All Bets Are Off
by CrystallineMaple
Summary: When a girl named Kaitlyn attends senior year of high school at a new place, she makes friends with a nice- but strange- group who calls themselves the Allies... but it seems everyone has secrets. AU, human names used. Some character death? Lots of drama.
1. New Day, New School

_A/N- Hey, Kaitlyn, are you reading? 'Cause this one's for you! Kesesese, 'n happy birthday!_  
_Kaitlyn = Kaitlyn_  
_AU. No countries. For my good friend Kaitlyn, who loves Hetalia. (Smiles)_

"Wake up! Kaitlyn! You have to get up! It's your first day of school! And this place better be worth the money, okay!?"

"Mmph," I grumble, burying my face in the pillow.

"Kaitlyn, don't make me come up"-

"I'm up, mom! I'm up!" I jump up, throw on clothes, and brush my teeth. Still half-asleep, wishing it was summer, I grab my backpack.

"Kaitlyn!" My mother screeches. I freeze, half-biting into a bagel. "What now?"

"Your hair! It's a mess! And absolute chaos"-

I throw it up in a ponytail and roll my eyes. "Better now?"

"Young lady, I don't appreciate this attitude."

I look out the window. "Look, mom! The bus! Gotta go!"

"Don't forget an umbrella, sweetie! It would be very improper to get wet in this rain."

"Moooom." I run outside without an umbrella. I love running around in the rain.

-###-  
My name's Kaitlyn. My mom stays home and works, sometimes going out to see clients, and my dad travels around a lot. My mom sent me to a private school this year, to get my attitude 'under control.' She's prim-and-proper and manner obsessed. Going to this new, snobby private school where I'm almost positive everyone is going to be bratty means leaving behind all my old friends, like Maple and Melissa.

I get on the bus. Senior year of high school, and, great. No friends. When I get on the bus, I see everyone is chatting, listening to music, or telling tales of their awesome summer. I stayed home watching TV and babysitting and swimming in the lake near my house. I could only swim, though, when my mom wasn't home. Again, she didn't find swimming in a lake "proper manners for a young lady. And, I find it quite horrific!"

I glance around and slide into an empty seat, listening to the rain on the bus and facing away from the overcast sky.

I look at the other students. We're all wearing the same uniform- well, guys and girls are different, obviously- but every student looks different. One guy is eating McDonald's- on the bus? For breakfast? Ew. A petite blonde girl has a purple ribbon in her hair, staring up with large green eyes at a guy I assume is her brother.  
A brunette with a flower in her hair is sitting next to a silver-haired boy with _red eyes_?

Two guys in the seats across from me are talking. One has dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, and the other has a scarf. Great. Everyone knows each other. And I don't.  
"Hey. Are you the new girl?" I look up and see that the brunette has slid in next to me.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm Kaitlyn."

"I'm Elizabeta Héderváry."

I nod. "That's a cool name."

She smiles. "It's Hungarian. There's something special about this school, something they don't tell you about unless you come."  
"And that is?"

"This school is very diverse. Technically speaking, many schools have different cultures and students, but here... it's a little extreme."  
I laugh. "Yeah, sure."

She holds both hands up. "Trust me. Look, okay. Let's start at the front of the bus. Keep in mind, this isn't everyone."

"Sure," I say, not really believing her. Everyone wants to think their school is special.

"Okay. Roderich Edelstein. Guess."

"Hmm. German?"

She shakes her head, smiling. "Close. Austrian. Next. Francis Bonnefoy."

"I'm guessing French."

"Good! Antonio Fernandez Carriedo."

"Definitely Spanish."

Elizabeta smiles. "You're pretty good at this game, Kaitlyn. Let's try some more."

"So it really is diverse?"

"Yes. Katyusha Braginskaya."

I look out the window. "Russian, maybe?"

"Ukrainian."

"Natalia Arlovskaya."

"That one's Russian, for sure."

Elizabeta chuckles. "Belarusian."

I slap the seat, pretending to be angry. "Darn."

Elizabeta and I talk for the rest of the bus ride. She tells me everyone's name, where they're from, and then we talk about our lives and my old school. I feel like I've made a friend.

-###-  
"Who's _that?"_

"Isn't she the new girl?"

"What's her name? Kathyrn? Kate?"

"Kaitlyn, I think. Did she get in here by... mistake?"

Elizabeta walks over to a group of friends. "Guys, this is Kaitlyn."

I smile. "Hi, guys."

A girl with long, light-colored hair nods at me. "Hey, Kaitlyn..." She trails off awkwardly.

"That's Natalia." Elizabeta nods. "That's Lili Zwingli and Katyusha Braginskaya."

Lili finally coughs. "So, Kaitlyn, where are you from?"

I tilt my head, startled by the question. "I, uh, I'm American, if that's what you mean."

Katyusha looks amused. "Like Alfred. Though you two are nothing alike."

"Who's Alfred?" I ask. Katyusha points across the classroom at a guy, surrounded by laughing friends. The guy who was eating McDonald's, but still looks incredibly fit and athletic.

"So, you're American..." Natalia studies me.

"Elizabeta?" I ask, looking over at the Hungarian girl. She's backed away slowly. "Um, Kaitlyn, there's nothing wrong with that." But she says it gently, like she doesn't want to hurt my feelings.

"What's going on?" I ask. Elizabeta shrugs. "Nothing." She turns around. But her desk is in front of mine, so if we're going to talk, she has to turn back around.

The teacher comes in, and my happiness evaporates. I don't understand what's going on.

I try to concentrate on taking notes, counting down the seconds for class to end.

-###-  
I eat alone at lunch. Elizabeta didn't invite me to sit with her at lunch. I made eye contact with her before I sat down, and she gave a tiny shake of her head. No. Don't sit here. But not in a mean way. I think that the others are the problem.

There are huge windows lining the furthest end of the giant cafeteria, maybe five times the size of the one at my old public school. It's still pouring, if anything, it's raining harder. I'm so glad I don't have gym this semester.

"Hey." I squeak in surprise as someone sits down.

I look at the guy carefully. "...Alfred, right?"

He throws his head back and laughs like I'm hilarious. "The one and only! You looked lonely, so me and my friends are gracing your presence."

Okay, this guy seems a bit full of himself, but in a goof-off way. A good way. And he doesn't seem to be like those girls who Elizabeta is friends with.

"Before you sit down, let me tell you, I'm American," I warn. Alfred laughs. "Me, too!" He slaps me on the back.

Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see a blonde guy. "Hey, there, _mon cher," _he whispers, narrowing his eyes.

I flinch. "Hey..."

"That's Francis," Alfred says. "He's a perv. Don't worry."

"Am not!" Huffs Francis.

"Oh, great, another person?" I notice a guy with large eyebrows and emerald-green eyes coming over, holding a lunch tray.

"I'm Kaitlyn," I smile.

"Arthur Kirkland," he grunts.

"He's grumpy," Francis laughs, "But you should see him drunk. Brits can party, huh?"

"Shut up, you bloody frog-face," Arthur growls. I laugh.

Alfred is burying his face in a burger. "Where are Ivan and Wang?"

Francis shrugs. "Dunno."

"Uh, guys..." I begin. "Is this school really supposed to be special?"

Alfred starts opening his Coke. "Oh, definitely," he says. "Very- what's the word?- diverse."

"That's what Elizabeta said."

Arthur coughs. "Elizabeta? Elizabeta Héderváry?"

I glance up. "Yes, why?"

"N-Nothing. She's just kind of... I don't know... bratty?"

"She's not bratty, she's nice," I defend.

Arthur shrugs. "I'm sorry."

I feel a hand on my shoulder and another one over my throat. "Hey, who's this new girl?!"

Alfred smiles broadly. "Kaitlyn, meet the Bad Friends Trio."


	2. The Allies

A/N- Three reviews? Thanks! And, yes, I'm the type of loser who gets excited about that, haha.

"Get off!" I exclaim, throwing someone's hand off my throat.

"Kesesese..." It's the red-eyed boy from the bus. Gilbert, I think? And Antonio. Francis jumps up. "Hey, guys! This is Kaitlyn!"

The three start talking quietly and giggling.

I look up at Alfred and Arthur. "Uh, is this normal?"

Arthur rolls his eyes. "All the bloody time, Kaitlyn. And they'll be back."

I start eating my sandwich, trying to ignore the whispers coming from Elizabeta's so-called friends.

"Who's this, aru?"

"I don't know! She's kinda cute, da?"

"Well how would I know!"

I notice two more guys walking over. They both set their trays down. Antonio and Gilbert have wandered off to go pester a table of students that seems to be made completely made of Asians.

"Kaitlyn, this is Wang Yao and Ivan Braginski," Alfred says.

"Nice to meet you," I say.

"Polite, aru," Wang murmurs.

I fiddle with the cap of my cola. "I'm sorry. I know you guys are boys and all, so this may seem girly and annoying, but..." I trail off.

"Go on," Francis encourages.

"You guys have been here for years," I mumble. "What do you think of Elizabeta and her crowd?"

Arthur shrugs. "That's honestly not something I want to go near."

Ivan nods. "Natalia and Katyusha are my sisters," he says.

I stare. "Really?"

"Da. Katyusha's older, Natalia's younger."

"Oh! Look!" Alfred points across the cafeteria. I see three people sitting down at a table near the rainy windows- a blonde-haired, blue-eyed serious guy, an Asian guy and a scatterbrained looking brunette.

"Idiots," Arthur says, and everyone else laughs quietly.

I stare. "Who are they?"

Arthur snickers. "Ludwig Beilschmidt, Kiku Honda and Feliciano Vargas."

"Hmm," I say. "Feliciano looks a little confused."

"Dude," Alfred says, "I heard he comes from this whole whacked up family of pasta-lovers."

Francis shrugs. "I don't know. Anotonio's friends with Feliciano's brother, Lovino."

"Did you seriously just stick up for Feliciano? Wow," sneers Alfred.

Francis pretends to look at his watch. "Non. I was just saying."

Wang grabs his messenger bag and I notice a panda charm.

"Oh my God, is that a panda? I love those guys! They're adorable!"

Alfred shoots me a what's-your-deal look, but the conversation was getting weird.

"Yes," Wang says, pleased. "It is, aru. Ivan here was a panda for Halloween."

Alfred slams his coke can down, laughing. "Damn right he was!"

The whole lunch is entertaining, and I just hope that these friends actually stick around.

-###-  
"I am, look." I take out my schedule. I've walked into the photography elective, because I know I didn't get gym, band, art or health.

The teacher shakes his head. "I'm sorry. You're not in this class. Go to the front office. They can straighten it up. Sorry."

I nod. "Okay, thanks. Bye."

When I get to the office, I find out I have gym. Yay. Gym _is _fun when I'm not getting slammed in the head with a ball or falling down. Oh, wait. So it's _never _fun.

The first day, we don't have to dress out, and the gym teacher just let's us socialize.

"Natalia!" I yell, seeing the girl across the gym. She glares at me and continues talking to Lili and Katyusha. They look sympathetic, but don't come over.

-###-  
The next day is a lot different. In gym, we dress out. But not in shorts and T-shirts. In skates.

Ice skates.

Trying not to panic, I do my best to lace up the skates correctly. The coach has to help me, which is super-embarrassing.

"Excuse me, do you know what we're doing?" I whisper to the student next to me. He turns, his eyes shining. "Hockey."

Hockey. Hockey. Hockey?! I have a mini-panic. By the time I come to my senses, everyone is moving around the gym, headed to the rink. Hey, it is a private school. A super fancy one.

"Kaitlyn!" Alfred is calling me over. I sigh in relief and walk over.

"You should be on our team," Wang says. "We usually win. When we do lose, it's to Matthew Williams, aru."

"I sorta suck at hockey," I say nervously. "I can't even stay up on the ice."

"Neither can Arthur," Francis says cheerfully, earning himself a kick from the moody Brit.

"Fine," I say reluctantly. "But I warned you."

When we get on the ice, I just stand there, trying not to fall. Arthur looks uncomfortable, too. Wang and Francis play excellently, and Alfred slides across the ice faster than I thought possible. But the real star is Ivan. Even though he's the tallest, he's extraordinary. He says in his homeland he got to skate a lot, and his sisters are good too.

We end up losing- but only barely- to Matthew and some friends.

"Oh, whatever," Alfred says. "Doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I hardly moved."

Alfred laughs. "Well, that's okay, too. Hey, dudes! Who wants to go to my house after school?"

"All of us," the other four say, then glance at me.

"Kaitlyn?" Francis prompts.

"Oh!" I blush and stutter. "S-Sure."

"Great!" Alfred exclaims. "Let's go."

I grab my stuff from my locker and Arthur offers me a ride to Alfred's. I smile and get out my phone to text my mom.

_Me_: goin to a friends house  
_Mom_: What is their name?  
_Me_: alfred jones  
_Mom_: Is it a date?  
_Me_: no mom god! arthur, francis, ivan and wang will b there 2  
_Mom_: My goodness! Lots of boys.  
_Me_: well all the girls at this stupid school ditched me  
_Mom_: Did you put your elbows on the table, Kaitlyn?  
_Me_: -_-  
_Mom_: Haha, have fun sweetie.

Exhibit A: Why I do not like texting my mom. Case in point.

"What do you guys usually do after school?" I ask.

Arthur is watching the road. "Usually homework. But seeing as we don't have any, sometimes we just rent movies and order food and go home."

I smile. "Sounds fun."

Suddenly my phone beeps.

_Alfred Jones_: tell iggy we r stopping by mickey ds  
_Me_: k c u there

"Arthur, we're stopping by McDonald's, according to Alfred."

Arthur rolls his eyes. "That imbecile. It's surprising he's fit."  
I laugh. "Yeah."

"Oh God. Nordic alert," Arthur mutters as we walk in.

"What do you"-

"Kaitlyn!" Alfred calls, waving, already sitting with Ivan and Wang.

"Francis is on the way, aru."

"KAITLYN!" I hear a sickeningly familiar voice yell.

Five people walk over. Arthur rolls his eyes.

"This is Mathias, Berwald, Tino, Emil and Lukas," Alfred says. "This is Kaitlyn."

I nod. "I know Mathias. My friend's brother."

Mathias claps. "I didn't know you were going to my school, Kaitlyn!"

"Why did we stop here?" Berwald whispers.

Mathias crosses his arms. "Emil needed more salt."

The five leave in an argument. I eat a fry.

"So, Kaitlyn, we forgot to tell you," Alfred says. "You know where we're all from, right?"

"I think so. America, England, France, Russia and China, right?"

Alfred smiles. "Does that sound familiar?"

I think for a second. "Wasn't that... World War Two?"

"Right." Alfred takes a sip of cola.

"We call ourselves the Allies."


	3. Designated Driver

"Sweetie, hurry, the bus will be here soon."

I cheerfully eat my cereal, not worried about Elizabeta or hockey or anything else. "I'm getting a ride," I say. Arthur offered to pick me up every morning after he found out I was riding the bus.

My mom sighs. "Kaitlyn. I'm not going to push the issue, but are you feeling well?"

I blink. "Yeah. Why? School's not too bad, if that's what you mean."  
She frowns. "In your text yesterday, you said all the girls hate you." She raises her eyebrows. "And I'm worried that you're hanging with all these boys. It's important to have some girlfrie"-

"_Mom_," I interrupt. "I'm fine. The girls at school just aren't very nice, okay? I did meet one girl named Elizabeta who seemed alright, but the others shunned me when they found out I was American." I shoot her a pointed look.

"American? Sweetie, that's awful! So where are they"-

I pick up my stuff, cutting off my mother. It's not raining as hard, just drizzling, but rumor has it that it might turn to snow. We were all talking about it at McDonald's yesterday.

"Bye," I say, closing the door. Arthur's car is idling in the driveway, and I can see him sitting in the driver's seat, impatient and grouchy like always, one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cup of tea.

I wave and hop in. Arthur agreed to drive me to and from school. He says my house is directly on the way to and from school.

"Thanks, Arthur. You know, you don't have to do this."

He stares ahead. "I know, Kaitlyn. But I want to. Plus, I feel bad you don't have your own car." He smiles at the window through the rain. "Is that your mother? She looks worried."

I roll my eyes. "Oh my God. Yes, it is. I'm sorry she's watching you. She's overprotective."

He laughs. "Arthur?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Does... Uh..." I stammer. "This will sound weird, but... Do people care that I'm American?"  
Arthur takes a long drink of tea. "No more than they care about other people being from their country. Alfred's American, remember, and he's extremely popular."

"But Natalia said"-

Arthur breaks in. "Kaitlyn, I don't care what Natalia said. She's a bloody idiot." I close my mouth and stare out the window. I still don't know everyone at school.

"We're here," Arthur says. I thank him and get out, scanning the parking lot for another one of the Allies. And I did find it creepy that they were the 'Allies'. Yeah, they're my only friends, but it's still strange. I mean, the chances of them actually being from those countries, and all being friends? It's just freaky.

I see Alfred. "Alfred!" I say, walking across the parking lot, dodging puddles and using my backpack as an umbrella.

"Oh," says a soft voice, "I'm not Alfred. I'm his little brother, Matthew."

"...Matthew?" I ask. "Really now? Are you sure?" I look at him closely. He does look different. His hair is wavier, and he looks like a depressed form of Alfred.

"Really now. Sorry." I tilt my head. "Hey, didn't I lose to you yesterday in hockey?"

"Mmm, probably," Matthew says, a little louder. I don't like him very much.

"Well, we've got to get going," Arthur says, grabbing my arm. "Uh, right," I say. "See you later."

"Arthur! Kaitlyn!" As soon as we get into the hallway, I see Alfred lounged against some lockers, chatting with Ivan.

"Where the bloody hell were you two?" Arthur demands. "We've been freezing outside for the past five minutes."

Alfred shrugs. "Sorry, dude. Not my problem. Anyways! Didja all hear? It's gonna snow today!"

"You said that yesterday," Arthur snaps. "And we all know we can't trust weathermen."  
"Huh?!" Alfred exclaims. "Of course we can? Right guys?!" He looks and Ivan and me.

"..."

-###-  
"Kaitlyn, are you okay?"

"Hmm...?" I drop the pencil I've been playing with and look over at Ivan. He's my lab partner in one of the few classes we share. Biology. The teacher has been droning on and on, and everyone else is passing notes and playing hangman and texting.

"You are not alright, da?"

To be honest, Ivan's sisters are part of the problem. But I think he loves his sisters. "No. I'm fine," I say. "I'm just really bored. This is a lot worse than the classes at my old school."

The steady rain has lulled a couple people to sleep. The teacher hasn't even noticed, and he turned the lights off. Who does that?

It really doesn't help that Natalia is sitting across the room glaring at me. Beside her is a guy with brown hair. Toris, was it? Yeah. I heard Toris loves Natalia. But Natalia doesn't love Toris back. In fact, she'd be fine if he dropped dead.

"There's a party Friday night. You should come," Ivan whispers.

"Party?" I ask. At my old school, my idea of a 'party' was renting some movies and hanging out with friends, pulling an all-nighter, and stuffing our faces with junk food. Not sure what a party is like here.

"Yeah. Do you drink?"

"No."

"Da! You can be our designated driver."

"Uh..." I'm not really sure how my mom would react if she found out I was partying at a place that had drinks. But hey. It's high school. Right? Besides, I don't drink. So it doesn't matter.

"Fine."

-###-  
The week drags by. Rumor has it that Elizabeta and Gilbert Beilschmidt, the one I met in the cafeteria, are going out. Roderich Edelstein spent the entire calculus class fuming in one corner, too angry to get any work done.  
So on Friday, the Allies and I sit at our regular table.

"So! Ready for the party tonight?" Alfred asks.

"Yeah, Kaitlyn's our driver," Ivan laughs.

I roll my eyes jokingly and then my phone buzzes.

_Natalia Arlovkskaya: _so, uh, kaitlyn. we havent talked much, yeah. im sorry if i seemed rude or mean. but were wondering wanna go to the party w/ us 2nite?

I almost drop my phone. I glance over at Natalia sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. He phone is on, face-up on the table, but she's not holding it. She's eating a salad and laughing with Elizabeta at a joke. Huh.

_Me: _sure, why not?  
_Natalia Arlovskaya: _cool! meet elizbeta after last class. shell take you over to my house k?  
_Me: _o okay

"Guys, I'm not going to the party with you," I say. "I mean, I'll drive you home, but"-

"Why not?" Alfred asks.

"Well," I say. "I kind of am going home with Natalia, and we're going to go to the party from there. But I will drive you guys home."

"Oh, so you're coming over to my house," Ivan says.

That thought didn't occur to me. But Natalia is Ivan's sister. So it makes sense.

"Cool," Arthur says. "We're thinking about leaving the party at maybe, I don't know, twelve or one? Around that time."

"What about my mom?" I'm worried. "She'll freak out if she finds I'm at a party past ten. And I'll be grounded."

"Just tell her you're spending the night at my house with Natalia," Ivan says. "You can, you know."

"Let me tell my mom," I say. The first thing to do is flatter her. Duh.

_Me: _Hey mom! kaitlyn here! you were totally right- i made some friends. natalia arlovskaya? shes nice. can i spend the night at her house tonight?  
_Mom: _You did? That's great? Of course you can, sweetie!

I smile. All that's left now is for this Friday school day to end.


	4. Open-Doors Policy

The final bell rang. About time! I grabbed my stuff and opened my umbrella (which I had smartly brought today).

"Elizabeta!" I call acorss the parking lot. Alfred grumbles a good-bye and the rest of the Allies drift off to their cars.

"Oh. Kaitlyn!" Elizabeta smiles. Her teeth are really white.

"Natalia said we are going to her house, right?"

"Of course!" Elizabeta says. "Let's go. Also, do you have anything to wear?"

"Wear? Well, I"-

"Don't worry. I've got a blue dress that would look great on you."

I watch out the window as we drive to Natalia's house. The trees are waving in the wind. It's always raining where I live, and the sky is constantly gray. Some days we might get sun or snow, but that's all.

"Oh, thanks."

-###-  
As soon as we pull into the drive way and go inside, a woman who seems to be Natalia's mother starts spitting rapid-fire Belarusian at us.

I look at Elizabeta for help, but she just shrugs and looks woried.

_"Mama!" _The front door opens and Natalia walks in, shutting the door before any rain can come inside. "_Spynisia..." _Natalia looks and Elizabeta and me.

"Sorry, guys. Mom doesn't like when I bring home people without asking. We're clearing out soon," Natalia adds to her mother.

"_Privet," _another person adds.

Ivan and Katyusha get home at the same tame. "Hey, Kaitlyn," they say.

"Let's go upstairs," Katyusha says. Ivan shrugs and goes to get a snack. He's obviously not going to hang out with us until we get to the party. I don't blame him.

"Natalia, aren't you Belarusian? And Katyusha, you're Ukrainian. But Ivan is Russian. How's that possible?"

Natalia and Katyusha chuckle. "Well," Katyusha says. "I was born first. Really, Ivan and Natalia are siblings, while I'm like a stepsister. The Ukrainian guy left."

"Oh."

"No worries. Let's get dressed!"

-###-  
An hour later, I'm in one of Elizabeta's blue dresses. It's just above the knee, with a silver belt. It actually looks alright on me.

"We're good to go!" Elizabeta cheers. "C'mon. I promised Lili we'd meet her at the party." The Hungarian rolls her eyes. "She's such an annoying little brat."

"Mmhmmm," Natalia murmurs, applying mascara. I'm not wearing any makeup. It doesn't look good on me.

"I thought you liked her," I say. I really did.

"Pssh! As if," snorts Natalia, closing one eye. "She's super-de-duper annoying. And she's so whiny! I mean, really. It's 'you guys didn't include me in this' and 'why did you guys leave me behind?'"

"And let's not forget Vash!" Elizabeta sneers.

"Vash? That's her brother, right?" I ask. Natalia and Elizabeta don't exactly seem to be the nicest people on earth, and I'm suspicious.

"Yeah," Elizabeta says. "She's so clingy to him! I feel kinda bad for him."

"Can we go now?" Katyusha asks, tapping her foot. She doesn't look like she wants to gossip, and I feel a little bad for her.

"C'mon," Natalia says, grabbing my arm. "You've never expereicned a party hosted by someone at our school. In retrospect, you haven't _lived_." She takes a huge glass of vodka and takes a gulp.

She looks up innocently when she realizes I'm staring at her. "What?" She giggles. "If big brother is good for anything, it's vodka."

-###-  
"You're here!" Lili shrieks when we walk in. I flinch.

I think we're at the Beilschmidts house. Obviously it's Gilbert and not Ludwig hosting. Multicolored lights have been hung up around the giant house, at least four times the size of my house. The entry room has a huge, high ceiling. Speakers are hooked up everywhere.

"Where's Ludwig?" I ask Elizabeta.

"He leaves when parties come," she says. "You interested?"

"Of course not," I exclaim. "Just wondering, because Gilbert's hosting, right?"

"Yes," Elizabeta says, face brightening. "Say, I'm going to go find him. Could you make sure Natalia doesn't get too tipsy? She's probably the most annoying drunk person I've ever met."

"Sure," I say. "Have fun." I walk over to find Natalia and tap her.

"Hey, Kaitlyn. Where's Elizabeta?"

"She went to find Gilbert. I'm going to go talk to some of my friends, alright? I'll catch up to you later." I look at Natalia, and she waves her hand. "Okay."

After walking around the huge house for a while, I locate Wang.

"Wang!" I call.

He looks up. "Oh! Hey, Kaitlyn, aru! Have you seen anyone else?"

"No, I think"- I jump and scream when someone lands next to me and thumps their hand on my shoulder. "Hey, dude! Hero here!"

"_Alfred!" _I hiss. "You idiot. Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, dude. Anyways, Arthur and Francis are on the way."

"So is Ivan," I say. "I left his house a little while ago."

"That's right," Alfred says, snapping his fingers. "I was supposed to..."

"Oh my God."

"I know, right?"

"What's _she _doing here?"

It's probably just me, but I have the feeling everyone is staring and whispering about me. Finally I get the not-so-subtle hint when Gilbert runs over, beer in hand, Elizabeta standing ten feet away, watching.

"Hallo, Kaitlyn."

"Hey."

Everyone is watching. "So, Kesesese. I'm glad to see you, but..."

Elizabeta runs up to Gilbert's side. "Say it, Gil! You won't hurt her feelings! Just say it!"

"Elizabeta?" I ask. "What are you"-

"Parties have an open-door policy here," Gilbert sneers, "but seriously, Kaitlyn. What the hell are you doing here?"

A/N- Since before Chapter 3 I hadn't updated much, I realized I had this chapter to post- I'm not very organized, hee hee.  
*Translation Notes*  
Mama- Mother, Belarusian  
Spynisia- Stop, Belarusian  
Privet- Hello, Russain


	5. Blame It On The Party

"Natalia... invited me here," I say, confused. What is Gilbert saying?

"Like hell someone would invite you?" Elizabeta sniffs, waking over, flipping her hair. "Nobody likes you, Kaitlyn. Nobody wants you around. So just shut up and go home, okay?"

"But"- I begin, starting to cry. I came here with Elizabeta. Where are Katyusha and Natalia? What's wrong with Elizabeta? I thought she was nice. Maybe Arthur was right. This is really embarrassing.

"She's right," Gilbert says. His face is still mean, his red eyes narrowed, but his voice sounds apologetic. "None of us really want you here."

"Shut up!" Alfred says, coming to my defense. "_We _want her here, okay, Elizabeta? You can't treat her like shit. You freaking _brought _her here, dude. I don't know what screwed up in your life, but geez, stop taking it out on other people."

"A-Alfred..." I start, but Elizabeta interrupts.

"Oh? _You _want her here, huh? How does that sound, Kaitlyn? He wants you here, so just don't bother anymore. And don't come near any of us again."

As soon as the argument is over, I'm standing there, stunned, while everyone else goes back to drinking and talking and laughing about who's-with-who and did-you-hear.

"What just happened?" Wang asks, stunned.

"I-I don't know," I sniff.

"This party is lame," Alfred says, laying a hand on my shoulder. "I'll call Francis and Arthur and Ivan and tell them not to show up. We can all go back to my house and order a pizza or something. I'm sorry."

"I didn't do anything to her," I say. "I don't know why she was like that. She was so nice a few hours ago, when we were at Natalia's!"

"You don't have to talk to her again, aru," Wang says.

"But I'm wearing her dress," I sniffle.

"Whatever. Then freaking keep it. Burn it, and leave the ashes on her front door," Alfred laughs, and I smile.

-###-  
Arthur brought a stack of movies as soon as he heard about the party, and Francis even took it into his responsibility to order a pizza ("Well, as long as Arthur doesn't make it," he had said). Ivan and Wang brought loads of junk- popcorn, candy, soda- and everyone told me not to worry. After all that stuff with Elizabeta, I should be suspicious, but the Allies have been nice since I first met them.

"So who just died?" Alfred asks, stuffing his face with pizza.

"I don't know, you bloody idiot," Arthur huffs. "Don't talk with your mouth full. I can't hear."

"We should do this more often, da?"

I've changed into jeans and a T-shirt, and it's a lot better being with my friends, anyway. It's still Friday night, but I'm dreading Monday. The rain is the only thing that's been staying the same. The Allies cheered me up, and I have to admit, they're a lot better friends than Elizabeta and her crowd.

Alfred's phone buzzes. "Oh my God," he says.

"What?" I ask, peering over his shoulder.

_Ludwig Beilschmidt: If you're with kaitlyn, gilbert says he's sorry._

"Are you serious?" Alfred laughs. "Geez. This loser, bothering me about how his brother is sorry? Dude, get a grip."

_Alfred Jones: if ur bros rly srry, get him to TELL KAITLYN HIMSELF ok? dont bother us.  
Ludwig Beilschmidt: elizabeta made gilbert say that_

Alfred chokes on a sip of soda. "What?"

_Alfred Jones: what?  
Ludwig Beilschmidt: elizabeta made him say that. _

This reminds me of what happened once when I was little, maybe in second or third grade. Some kid in my class was bragging about how he had just learned to ride a bike. There were two other guys, and they were jealous. So jealous, one of them pushed the guy off his bike. They blamed it on the fact the bike-rider was bragging, but the bike-rider got hurt and there was blood. So much blood, nobody knew what to do, and someone ran off to get the teacher. I don't know why I suddenly remember this, but I do.

In this case, Elizabeta is doing all the pushing and I'm getting all the scraped knees.

"I guess we'll have to wait until Monday," Alfred says, and I sigh loudly. Mondays are always awful, and this Monday is bound to be even worse than the last one.

-###-  
"Did you hear what she did at the party on Friday night?"

"Yeah, Elizabeta flipped out at her."

"Isn't she that new girl that's always hanging out with the Allies?"

"I thought she was part of the Allies. Isn't she American?"

"Yes, that stupid ragazza. What an idiot."

"Kaitlyn!"

Oh God. It's Elizbeta. I'm back at school, and I have a free class, so I'm just kind of walking around school looking for something to do for the next hour. I see a tear fall out of her eye. She wipes it away, sniffles. I feel a little bad, but then I remember: _She's awful. She's mean. Don't feel bad for her._

"What do you want, Elizabeta?" I snap rudely, not even trying to be courteous. She doesn't deserve it.

"Are you mad at me, Kaitlyn? I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to say all that stuff. I didn't mean it at all. I think I might have had one too many to drink. I'm so, so, so sorry."

"It's..." I almost say 'it's okay' but I don't. She's blaming it on the alcohol. I'm blaming it on _her. _"Ludwig told me you forced Gilbert to say that stuff, so it was your fault."

"Kaitlyn, you can be so mean," Elizabeta says, making more tears spill over her eyes. "You know that? I'm trying to apologize. I feel so bad. I was so mean."

_Don't buy it. _

"Can we start over?" Elizabeta pleads.

"Why don't your friends like me?" I ask. Elizabeta looks surprised. "What? What do you mean? Yes, they do."

I shake my head. "I don't know if you told them something, or what, but they don't like me." I start walking the other way. "I'm sorry, Elizabeta. I don't think you're sorry. You can't blame it on anything. You weren't drinking. You forced Gilbert to yell at me. And..." I look back, putting on a mocking tone. "And you're _sorry._"

I head the other direction, leaving Elizabeta standing there, fake-crying while the rain falls behind her, noticeable through the window. I laugh and laugh and laugh, feeling better than I have in a while.


	6. Science Lessons

A/N- The only reason I was able to do this chappie was because I finished a science essay earlier than expected. (smiles) Thanks for all the reviews! Love you all! And... -This means email-

"Okay, Kaitlyn and Kiku, you'll be working together for this experiment. Elizabeta and Toris... Lovino and Michelle..." My science teacher is listing of names, and I see that quiet Asian boy. The one that Alfred thinks is a loser. Ludwig's friend.

Ivan rolls his eyes at me since he's my 'desk partner' (as our crazy science teacher calls them) and gets up to go work with his assigned partner, Elizabeta. I sympathize.

"Ah, uh, would you like to go first...?" Kiku offers courteously. I recognize a Japanese accent, and I remember Elizabeta told me Kiku is from Japan.

"Sure," I say. "Thanks. You're Kiku Honda, right?"

"Y-yes," he says, his voice barely a whisper, like steam coming up from coffee or your breath on really cold mornings.

"Are you... uh... are you scared of me?" I ask, looking up from a microscope into his brown eyes. He nods yes, and I bet he feels stupid. I feel bad for him. "You know," I say sheepishly, "there's no reason to be scared or anything. I don't bite." I laugh at my lame joke, then look back down. "I'm serious. I don't hate you or anything."

"But you're best friends with Alfred," Kiku murmurs quietly.

"What of it?" I ask, marking something on my paper, moving over to let him change the microscope slide. "We're friends, so, yeah."

"We used to be friends," Kiku says, his voice getting a little louder. "One day he just started hanging out with Arthur. Arthur was really nice. But then Francis came along, and all three of them got to cool for me... then Ivan and Wang only worsened the situation."

"Oh. I'm sorry." I know what it's like to be left behind. Actually, I don't. I was never picked up in the first place, except by the Allies. And they haven't left me yet.

"I don't really want to be Alfred's friend anymore... but could you please ask him to stop being so mean to Feliciano?"

"Who's Feliciano? Is he the redhead-ish guy? Really loud and stupid?" I didn't mean anything by that, but Kiku flinches. "See, Kaitlyn. That's what I mean." He pretends to write an answer on his paper, but I know he doesn't want to look up.

"Sorry, I don't get it." I really don't.

"You haven't met Feliciano. You think he's stupid, though, right? Because of Alfred."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean"-

"It's okay, Kaitlyn. It's fine. Just talk to Alfred for me, please?"

"I will. Don't worry."

-###-  
"Guys," I say, plopping down at our usual lunch table.

"Hmm?" Alfred asks, his face buried in a sandwich.

"I, uh... I got Kiku Honda as a lab partner," I mutter. It's surprisingly hard to say anything at all, even when I know for sure what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to help Kiku out.

"Well," Francis laughs. "You can tell me what a freak he is, non?" Alfred laughs, his cheeks turning a little red. "Tell us, dude. He's like that emo kid ar"-

"He's nice," I break in. Alfred stares at me. "He's... nice," Alfred sneers. "Kaitlyn? Are you okay? Need an aspirin?"

"I'm not joking," I say, resisting the urge to rub my forehead. "I'm serious. And he asked if you guys would stop making so much fun of Feliciano."

For a second the Allies are all quiet. Finally Arthur breaks in. "I guess we have been a little mean, you know"-

"Dude," Alfred says, looking at me and back to Arthur, then again. "Dude." He gets up, taking his stuff, and walks out of the cafeteria.

-###-  
As soon as I get home, I run upstairs and close the door. I don't slam it, because my mom would ask me what is wrong. When I just close the door, she thinks I'm doing homework or taking a nap or listening to music.

I log onto my email and first email Mathias. Yes, we haven't spoken once since that time at McDonald's, but he's my friend's brother, and I miss my old friends. A lot.

-Hey, it's Kaitlyn. You know me, right? Obviously. Just tell your sister hi for me. Cool.-

The next is to Arthur.

-Hey, it's Kaitlyn. Is Alfred still mad at us? Was he mad in the first place? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you involved in this Kiku stuff. I hope Alfred's not mad. If it's not too much trouble, and he's not mad at you, too, could you find out? Thanks.-

And finally, one to Natalia. I don't think _she's _mad at me.

-Natalia, it's me, Kaitlyn. I don't know why Elizabeta's mad. She tried to apologize. I didn't accept it. I'm sorry. Really, I am.-

I run downstairs to get a glass of water, and as soon as I come back up, my computer's flashing, saying I have a New Email.

I set down the water and sit down, scanning for Mathias or Arthur. No, it's Natalia. She replied. Excitedly, I click the reply.

-Hi, Kaitlyn. It's okay. I'm not mad. I know Elizabeta's as pissed as heck, but I'm tired of her. I really, really need your help. Please help me. I need you to help me talk Katyusha out of something.-

I reply back immediately.

-No problem! What is it?-

-Kaitlyn, why don't you come over right away? Elizabeta's not here, I promise. Please come. I don't want to lose Katyusha.-


	7. Katyusha's Note

My mom let me borrow her car, so I drove over as fast as I could (following speed limits, duh!) and arrive at the Braginski/Arlovskaya/Braginskaya household in ten minutes.

I ring the doorbell and Ivan answers. He looks surprised. "Kaitlyn? What are you doing here, da? You're welcome whenever you like, but"-

"I'm really sorry, but is Natalia home?"

"Oh, that's right! She mentioned you were coming over." He motions for me to come inside. "Want something to eat?"

"No, thanks!" I say as Natalia walks in. "Kaitlyn!" She exclaims. "Come upstairs. I have to show you something."

"Where's Katyusha?" I ask nervously.

"She's at softball practice," Natalia says. She grabs a paper off of her nightstand. "Look, Kaitlyn. Look!"

_I'm sorry. Maybe it was Elizabeta? I don't know. Don't blame her. Especially don't press charges. I don't know if it even works that way though. I love you, Natalia. And Ivan. Sorry. Love, Katyusha_

"What is this?" I ask.

"It's a suicide note."

Suddenly I don't want to touch the paper anymore. It's like it's a bad thing, touching it might make me sick or make me write one, too.

"Why Katyusha?"

"Elizabeta is so mean to her..."

"Elizabeta, again?" I ask. "What's her problem?"

"I don't know. So would you help me... uh, convince her, that... uh..."

"I will, Natalia. It's fine. When is she coming home?"

"In maybe an hour. You can stick around if you want." Natalia looks up at me. I think she wants me to stay around, just to be with her. "Does Ivan know?"

"No. I haven't told him yet. I don't want him to worry... I think he loves Kat more than me, and I don't want him to be sad. I wouldn't want"- Natalia breaks off as there's a knock on the door.

"Yes?" She calls.

Ivan pokes his head in. "Papa wants to know how long Kaitlyn's going to be staying. What are you reading?" Ivan tries to look over Natalia's shoulder, but she pushes him away and holds the paper to her chest.

"It's nothing!"

"...Natalia," I say as Ivan leaves. She looks up at me. "What?" "Nevermind."

-###-  
As soon as Katyusha gets home, Natalia and I walk downstairs. Katyusha looks surprised to see me. "Hello, Kaitlyn."

"Hi, Kat."

Natalia breaks in, and it looks like she's trying not to cry. "Don't do it, Katyusha! Please! I don't know what gave you the idea! Was it Elizabeta?"

"What are you talking about?" Katyusha asks, confused. I can tell she's not lying. Natalia takes out the note, and Katyusha's eyes widen. Then she bursts out laughing.

"What the hell?" Natalia demands. "Katyusha!"

"Sorry," Katyusha gasps in between laughs. "That isn't real. I'm sorry. I wrote it to joke around. I shouldn't have. I was going to throw it away. Did I leave it out?"

"Grrr!" Natalia hisses, wadding up the paper and pegging it into the trash can. "It's _not _funny! I was so worried about you! You shouldn't joke around with stuff like that..." Natalia starts sobbing and Katyusha hugs her. "You're such a silly," Katyusha whispers.

"I'm going home," I say, smiling, and Katyusha waves goodbye, still laughing, Natalia's hands clenched into fists, venting and crying.

-###-  
"Wow. So that's why Natalia was upset?" Francis asks.

"Yup," I say. "She called me over for that."

"Wow. And to think she didn't tell me about that!" Ivan says, looking a little hurt. I recounted the day's events to the Allies; we were all at Arthur's house. Well, except Alfred. Which worried me. But Arthur had reassured me that Alfred wasn't mad, he just had a cold and was staying home drinking some lemon tea Arthur had made for him. (That worried me, too- Human being + something Arthur cooked = bad)

I believe him.

"Oh..." I trail off. I remember what Natalia said. _I don't want him to worry... I think he loves Kat more than me, and I don't want him to be sad. _But I can't say that! I don't know why, and this probably doesn't happen, but the thought of Katyusha and Ivan drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn, sitting by a fire, laughing, maybe watching a movie, while Natalia sits upstairs alone, watching the trees in the wind, makes me sad.

I still think about what Natalia said. _Elizabeta is so mean to Katyusha._

The hangout gets super interesting when Francis prank calls Antonio, but Lovino Vargas picks up instead.

"What?" Lovino demands.

"Uh... Your order of cooked cat is right on the way," Wang says when Francis throws the phone at him.

"What the heck? What? Who _IS _this? Antonio, did you order... cooked cat? No? Wait. This is Wang, right? GET OF THE PHONE, YOU IDIOTA!" With that, he hangs up while the rest of us laugh until our stomachs hurt, gasping for air.

"W-Why did _he _a-answer?" Francis finally gasps, and Arthur laughs even harder.

Sometime during our laugh session, Arthur gets up and snaps a photo of Wang, Ivan, Francis and me laughing.

It makes me happy. It looks like the type of picture that when we all grow up and have children, it will be in our photo album. People might look at us laughing, and say, "Wow, you guys must have been having a lot of fun." And I will be able to smile and nod and remember, to say, "Yes, I know, I was there."

-###-  
"Kaitlyn, hold on."

"Arthur's going to be here any minute," I say impatiently, tapping my foot, glancing outside the (hey, it's raining) window. My mom has that look in her eye. When I woke up this morning, she was acting strangely. After I got home from Arthur's yesterday, she kept mostly to herself, shutting herself in her room.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with these... friends of yours," she says cautiously. "And one of them picks you up in the mornings for school, right?"

"Yes," I say. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No," she says. "I just think you should be spending more time with... real friends. Who are girls. Right, sweetie? Not a bunch of players."

"A bunch of _players_?" I say loudly. Not yelling, but pretty loud. My mom winces. "They're not _players. _They are my only real friends. They cheer me up on the worst days, and they help me get through a lot..." I trail off, thinking of Elizabeta.

"What about me, Kaitlyn? I'm always here for you." Her voice is cold and angry. "Yet you never come to me! It's like you hate me!"

"_You wouldn't understand!" _I yell. "While I'm out getting made fun of by _everybody _except the people you call 'players,' you're just here, alone!" I grab my bag. "If you'll excuse me, Arthur's here!"

My mom is speechless. I've never yelled at her. I've (surprisingly) never raised my voice at her. I plop into the car and sigh. Arthur looks apologetic. "Rough morning?"

"Understatement of the year."


	8. New Student

"Oh. I'm sorry. What happened?" Arthur asks, thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Just my mom," I growl. "She's on my last nerve. Anyways, how's Alfred doing?"

"Being over dramatic," Arthur laughs. "Oh, quite, it's just a cold. But with all the complaints he's making, you'd think he was getting his head amputated!"

I laugh. "Hey, he shouldn't complain. He's missing school."

"Yes. Did you hear?"

"What?" I ask. "This better be good." Because these past weeks have been so interesting- some bad, some good- I don't really know what to expect anymore.

"Not really," Arthur says. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this girl from another class is transferring over to our part of the school."

"So?"

"So, she and Elizabeta are 'best friends.'"

I roll my eyes. "What is her name?"

"Michelle," Arthur says. "That's really all I know. We'll have to find out more today, alright?"

"Definitely."

-###-  
As soon as I walk into Biology, I notice Kiku sitting where Ivan usually sits.

"Are we working on that thing again today?" I ask, rolling my eyes and setting down my books.

"Yes," Kiku says. "Kaitlyn?"

"Mmhm?"

"Alfred actually spoke to me the other day. Thank you for talking to him for me..." Kiku trails off, looking embarrassed.

"No problem. Any time," I say, sitting down. I notice a tan-skinned, dark-haired girl with red ribbons in her hair sitting next to Toris.

"Who's that?" I ask Kiku.

"I think her name's Michelle," Kiku says. "She was in the other senior class, but they moved her."

"Oh. Yeah. Where's she from? Do you know?"

"Hmm..." Kiku thinks for a second. "I heard someone say she was from Seychelles?"

"Wow." I look at Michelle. She's laughing, and Toris is smiling. Scratch that- Toris is wincing, but, hey, any girl who can get Toris to smile that's not Natalia should be proud.

"Kaitlyn? Would you like to eat lunch with Ludwig, Feliciano and me today?"

"Oh, um..." Words flash in my head. _Be polite_. "Sure, I guess."

-###-  
"You're doing _what, _aru?"

The Allies are staring at me like I've announced I want to do something absurd. In reality, all I said was I was going to be eating lunch with Kiku's group.

"What next, eating with Elizabeta?" Demands Francis.

"Guys, it's just today, okay?" I stand up and walk over to Kiku's table and sit down.

A blonde guy looks up. "Hallo. You're Kaitlyn, right?"

"Yes," I say. "Kiku, uh, invited me to sit here today?"

"Ah, the famous Kaitlyn," Ludwig says, the tiniest hint of a sneer on his face, his blue eyes narrowed in hate. "Kiku's spoken legends about you. And tell me, what have you done for us?"

"I"- This Ludwig guy scares me. I glance around for Kiku. I can't go back to the Allies today, it would seem rude; Arthur meets my eyes, shrugs, and gives me a look that clearly says _told you so._

"Ludwig, please," Kiku says, sitting down. I almost sigh in relief, but stop when I see Ludwig's facial expression. "I'm sorry," Ludwig says. "I was being childish. Anyways, I heard you spoke to Alfred about us."

"Yes," I say. "It was fine. I'm sorry he's so mean to you guys."

Ludwig sighs. "Whatever."

-###-  
"Um, yeah, there's a new girl in our section of the school."

"Really? What's her name, again?"

"Michelle, I think. From Seychelles. You'll see her in a second."

I'm telling Alfred what happened when he was 'sick'- I still don't know if he was serious, or as Arthur said, exaggerating, but he's back and that's all that matters now.

"There she is," I say, pointing across the parking lot. She rolls into school with a carpool of Elizabeta and Lili.

I expect Alfred to make some lame joke like he always does, how he hates Elizabeta's little crowd, but instead his jaw drops.

"What is it?" I ask, poking his arm. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"She's gorgeous, Kaitlyn," Alfred whispers, staring across the parking lot. I stare at him. His eyes don't leave Michelle, who's now smiling and laughing at something Elizabeta said.

"Can we go talk to her?" Alfred sounds like a five-year-old, asking me permission, like he's a little kid waiting to get his Christmas presents.

"I... I guess," I say hesitantly. Arthur's already gone inside, not wanting to get wet from the rain. Alfred drags me over, putting on his 'Hero Smile,' and says loudly, "Hey, I'm Alfred!"

Elizabeta's smile turns into a snarl and her green eyes widen in surprise, but Michelle laughs. "Hey, Alfred." She turns to me. "You're Kaitlyn, right? I hope we can all become good friends!"

Elizabeta gives the tiniest snort, but Michelle apparently doesn't hear. "Let's all walk inside!" She says cheerfully. "I don't want our uniforms to get wet; I don't have gym, so I don't have anything to change in to." She takes a plastic bag out of her backpack. Inside are some cookies. "Hey, does anyone want these? I baked them yesterday, but there were too many for me to eat by myself."

"I'll have one," I say, taking one and biting into it. I almost gag, but I smile, nod, and force myself to swallow it, hoping my gag reflexes don't kick in. Geez! This girl could rival Arthur in culinary skills! "It's really good," I say, and she smiles. As soon as she turns her head, I drop the half-eaten cookie into a trash can.

Despite her cooking abilities, Michelle turns out to be very sincerely nice, at least from what I can tell. She really likes seafood, and she can speak French fluently, which will probably be a hit with Francis.

Anyways, as 'gorgeous' as Alfred thinks Michelle is, she's still not allowed to sit with us at lunch. I don't know why they chose me, anyways. But no matter, she's sitting with Elizabeta, which reminds me, I hope Elizabeta doesn't do anything too drastic to poor little Katyusha.

-###-  
"It's too bad Michelle's sitting with Elizabeta," Alfred says, a little too wistfully for my liking.

"Oh, that's her choice," I say. And it is. I like Michelle- she's friendly and kind, the type of person that would gladly share her own lunch with you if you were hungry- but it annoys me how Alfred idolizes her.

"Would you stop it?" Alfred growls. Wang looks up from his book, surprised, and if Arthur were a dog, I swear his ears would prick. I hear the edge in Alfred's voice. We all do.

"What?" I ask. "I'm just saying, it's her choice who she sits with. I don't"-

"Why do you have problems with _everyone _at this school?" Alfred demands, holding his soda can so tight that it's starting to crumple. Wang and Ivan exchange glances, and Arthur and Francis look worried. But I'm getting frustrated. _I'm_ the one with problems with everyone?

"I don't!" I argue loudly. "I like Michelle just fine! All I'm saying is that"-

"Stop," Arthur says. "Guys, really. Stop. Please. Don't fight. Not now." Arthur's speaking in short, brief sentences. I know he wants Alfred or me to back off. I sigh and sit back. "I'm sorry."

Alfred takes a deep breath, and finally says, "Me too."


	9. Questions

A/N: Thank you guys _so _much for all the love- uh, I mean, _reviews. _Seriously though. It makes my day! (Wow, Maple, you must have no life.) Italy and his pasta-ness coming up soon! I promise! (Oh yes and I'm trying to make my characters less bratty- except Eliza, of course. :) I take suggestions to heart, danke!)

"Wow! _Mon cher, _you're seriously getting better at this! For someone who couldn't lace up her own skates a few weeks ago, you've surpassed Arthur's hockey playing talents! But then again, that isn't very hard to do!"

"Shut up, Frogface!"

"You... you! I just got my hair done! Do you think it's this gorgeously gorgeous _naturally?"_

I roll my eyes and try not to laugh listening to Arthur and Francis arguing. Our team- the Allies and I- just beat Matthew and some others in hockey. And I actually scored a goal. I was pretty darn proud!

"Hey," I say to Alfred, something occuring to me for the first time. "Isn't Matthew your little brother? How come he's never at your house when we go over?"

"Actually," Alfred says, unlacing his skates, "our parents are divorced. And Matthew lives with my dad."

"Oh," I say. "I'm sorry."

"It's no big deal," Alfred says, waving a hand, catching himself, and laughing. "I mean, it happens all the time, right? Sorry, this is going to sound kind of rude, and I don't mean it, dude, but... aren't your parents divorced too?"

I pause. No. My parents aren't divorced, but it seems like it. My dad travels around so much, I haven't seen him since Christmas three years ago, and even then, it was just a brief wave and a quick kiss in the airport, and then we parted ways, disappearing into the crowd, him on his way to catch his next flight.

"No," I say. "But I never see my dad."

"I sympathize," Alfred says. "But to be honest, are they really that important?"

Arthur looks up, and I didn't realize he was listening, because Wang, Francis and Ivan have all left the gym. "Of course they're important!" He says. "My father is a gentleman. Fathers are very important." We start walking out of the gym.

"Mine isn't," Alfred says stubbornly, stopping as we reach his locker. I raise an eyebrow as he turns the combination, opens his locker and about twenty empty McDonald's bags fall out. He tries shoving them back in, but this just causes empty soda cans to avalanche out from the back.

I laugh. "Al, you really need to clean your locker." Arthur nods vigorously. "It's a disaster!"

"Oh. Kaitlyn!" Michelle calls from across the hall, shoving people aside gently, forcing her way through the crowd, mumbling "excuse me" "oh, I'm sorry" and the like.

"Here's your worksheet," she says, smiling broadly, handing me a paper. "The biology one. Thanks for letting me borrow it! See, I still didn't really understand some things about the"-

"It's fine," I say, smiling back. Michelle seems nice. Too nice for Elizabeta, but I don't question who she hangs out with and why. I had forgot I lent her one of the biology worksheets.

"Michelle," Alfred says quickly. She raises her eyebrows and turns to him, smiling. "Yeah?"

"Uh... would you go out with me?" He stammers. His cheeks are dusted with a light pink, and I find it so weird to see him like that, so brutally honest and scared and _in love._

Michelle hesitates, and then nods, laughing. "Okay! You seem like a really nice guy, Alfred!"

Arthur coughs a little, like, yeah, right, and I elbow him in the ribs. "Let's go," I say to Arthur, and we start walking towards calc. I throw one last glance over my shoulder, and from a distance, all I see is Alfred leaning against the lockers, looking overjoyed, Michelle laughing, hugging her books, and I think, _if this were a movie, one of those perfect love songs would be playing._

-###-  
The next day, I get a text from Elizabeta. I check my phone right before ducking out of the house, my textbook over my head to shield from the ever-current rain.

_Elizabeta H: look kaitlyn. not tryn 2 b blunt, but i really do hate u. u knew that right? anywayz michelle and alfred r a thing now, im sure u no.  
Me: Yes i know. are you just texting me to tell me how much u hate me?  
Elizabeta H: actually no im not. have you ever heard the quote, "nothing brings 2 ppl together faster than hate for a 3rd person?"  
Me: yeah, what of it?  
Elizabeta H: u KNOW i hate you, but u KNOW im not tricking u. no cards up my sleeve. help me break up michelle and alfred._

"Coffee," Arthur says, tipping his head to the cupholder, where a steaming cup waits.

"Thanks," I say, throwing back a gulp. It scalds my throat, and I want to scream, but I swallow it and consider what Elizabeta has said. And it only takes me two seconds to come up with an answer.

_Me: really elizabeta. they r a cute couple. they deserve each other. and im sorry, but im not going to help you.  
Elizabeta: fine beeyatch remember this, you HAD your chance, and if you come crying 2 me, wtf 2 bad.  
Me: what do you mean?  
Elizabeta: youll find out soon enough._

-###-  
"Kaitlyn!" A familiar Japanese accent stops me in my tracks as I'm grabbing stuff from my locker, about to head to homeroom.

"Ah, Kiku. What's up?" I ask, smiling. I've come to accept Kiku is actually quite nice. Now if only I could come to the same conclusion about Ludwig!

"Would... would..." he hesitates. "Would you go out with me?"

_What?! _"O-Oh. I-I-I... uh, gosh, Kiku..."

"Kaitlyn! You forgot your homework in my car." Arthur runs over and stops dead, looking back and forth from a tongue-tied me and a nervous-looking Kiku.

"Uhh, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Kiku," I say. "I do hope we can be friends, right?"

"Of course," Kiku says. "It was nothing, Kaitlyn. I'm sorry for bothering you." He walks the other way.

Arthur stares after him. "Eh, what was that about?"

"I don't know," I say. "Seriously. No clue. I mean, Kiku's really nice, but honestly, I don't know him that well."

Arthur looks over at me. "You're lying."

"What are you talking about, you doofus? No I'm not."

"No. I mean, I believe you when you say you don't know Kiku that well. But I don't think that's why you turned him down."

"What are you, my psychiatrist?"

"You love someone else."

I look at Arthur. "No I don't."

Arthur shrugs. "You might not think so, but it's kind of obvious. Well, at least to Francis, Ivan, Wang and I. See you later!" With that, he walks away to his homeroom, leaving me standing there by my locker, absolutely confused.


	10. Elizabeta's Backstory

A/N- Okay. I know this is in a girl named Kaitlyn's POV. I am not Kaitlyn. I am Maple. I am not in this story (I was mentioned once- Denmark's sister) but no. Kaitlyn is _not_ my OC, Kaitlyn is the name of one of my good friends, the person this story is for. Thanks.

"He said _what_?" Ivan looks at me, then looks across the room towards Kiku, who's taking notes in his binder.

"For the hundredth time," I say, rolling my eyes, "he asked me out."

"And you turned him down?" Ivan asks. We're sitting in science, supposed to be watching a documentary, but our wacko teacher has his feet up on his desk, leaning back in his seat, snoring. With the lights off, the background noise from the TV, and the rain drumming on the roof, it's kind of peaceful, but nobody's working.

"Yes, Ivan, I did," I sigh, doodling swirls and stars on my notebook. "But... Arthur said something to me."

"What?"

"I didn't understand. He said I turned Kiku down because I love somebody else."

Ivan's mouth crooks into a smile. "Da! Definitely, Kaitlyn. It's _obvious."_

"If it's so obvious, then who do I 'love'?" I scoff, thinking. I don't love anyone, so why did Arthur say everyone was getting that idea?

"Well, I'm not going to just _tell _you," Ivan says.

"What?" I exclaim so loudly, a few people throw me confused glances. "I mean," I say in a whisper, "that doesn't seem fair to me. Just tell me, please. Pleeeeaaassseee?"

The bell rings, and Ivan stands up quickly. "Dunno," he says, smiling. "Guess you'll have to find out later?"

-###-  
The next class is lunch. As I'm walking towards the giant cafeteria, I jump when someone lays a hand on my shoulder.

Ludwig.

"Um, hey," I say nervously, remembering how he reacted when I sat at his lunch table.

"I heard what Kiku did," he says. "That was very unaccounted for."

"Uh..." I stand there, unsure of what to say, when Ludwig sighs. "Look, Kaitlyn. Kiku doesn't like you. When I say that, I mean, he likes you as a friend just fine. He thinks you're really nice. But he isn't in love with you."

"Why did he ask me out, then? Did someone dare him to?"

"Kind of. Elizabeta told him to."

My eyes widen, and I feel kind of sick. I remember her text. _You'll find out soon enough. _"Why?" I ask. "If I just turned him down, it doesn't matter."

"We will tell you everything if you sit with us at lunch today. But don't say a word of this to anyone else." Ludwig's blue eyes stare right at me, and he's tensed up.

"I won't tell anybody," I say. "I promise." Ludwig relaxes. "Danke, Kaitlyn."

When we walk into the cafeteria, I can hear the murmur of voices, everyone talking to their friends, laughing, or eating lunch. Standing right outside the double doors, the talking sounds like a rumble, like the ocean, or maybe applause.

We get to Ludwig's table. Kiku and the Feliciano are sitting there. Feliciano is eating pasta.

My phone buzzes. _Francis Bonnefoy: Again? we're all wondering what you're doing_

Me: oh stay out of it. just trust me.

"We have a lot to explain," Ludwig says, sitting down. He taps the chair next to him with his foot, and I sit down. "However, none of us know where to start. Just ask a question."

"Do... why does Elizabeta hate me, do you know?"

Kiku clears his throat. "She doesn't really like Americans very much. See, in freshman year, Alfred asked Natalia out. But then... he broke her heart... and Elizabeta held a grudge. Plus, she's been trying to get in good with the Allies since they formed back in middle school, and she was jealous when they automatically accepted you."

"Alfred dated Natalia?" I ask, so startled I have to glance towards Alfred. He's eating a burger, no surprise, laughing at something Arthur just said.

"Do you remember the party the Trio threw, the one where Gilbert insulted you in front of everyone?" Ludwig asks. I nod.

"Bruder... Bruder is a drinker, and a goof-off, but he's not mean. Elizabeta got him to say that," Ludwig says. "I tried to tell Alfred that, but he didn't listen."

I remember that.

"But why did she make you ask me out?" Kiku shakes his head when I ask him that question.

"I'm not sure, but I think she was a little mad at me because... because we used to be friends, but I really don't care for her now."

"You two used to be friends?" I gasp.

"We were in photography club together," Kiku says. "We were also childhood friends, and we both had those disposable cameras, and we would photograph whatever came up."

"Oh."

"But," Ludwig says. He's leaned over and is whispering right in my ear, very quietly. "This doesn't compare to Feliciano. They were very good friends. Even though they're the same age, Elizabeta was like Feliciano's older sister. But now she's very mean to him."

Ludwig moves away, and I look over at Feliciano. Yes, he doesn't seem to be the bravest, but being mean to him is like kicking a puppy. Who could do that?

The bell rings, and I hear chairs scraping, people getting up and throwing trash away.

"What's your next class?" Ludwig asks.

"Uh, History." I look over to Feliciano. "He's in my class."

-###-  
"You met Ludwig, right? Isn't he so cool and strong?"

"What?" Feliciano has joined me, walking to History. Other people chat by their lockers, and students with a free class are joking around, some of them sitting in the Student Lounge.

"Ludwig. He's so cool! Don't you- cough!" Feliciano stops talking when someone tries to strangle him. "Lovino," Feliciano says, "could you let go?"

"Why are you talking to him?" Lovino spits at me.

"Why are you _strangling _him?" I fire back. "Even if you are his brother, you shouldn't do that. You could hurt him. And besides, what do you care who he talks to?"

"You think I'm going to listen to some freaking stupid girl?" Lovino tightens his grip, and Feliciano shoots me a begging look. "You think you can tell me what to do?" Feliciano's brother hisses, then lets go of his brother, shoving Feliciano over.

"You are such a freaking idiot," Lovino snarls. "I'll see you around"-

"Hold on," I interrupt. "You can't be like that. You can treat him like crap. What, do you not care? You should at least be a little nicer. Look at him, he's"-

"Kaitlyn!"

_Not now, Alfred._

Lovino stays absolutely still for a second, then grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking it. It doesn't come out or anything, but I feel tears form in my eyes.

"Dude! Are you trying to molest her or something?" Alfred runs over and glares at Lovino.

Lovino lets go and rolls his eyes. "Hey, Alfred."

I blink the tears away and grab Feliciano's hand. "Let's go."

Feliciano is staring at me with wide eyes. "What?" I ask. "No one except Ludwig and Kiku have ever stood up for me like that," he says. "Especially not someone who's friends with the Allies."

"I- it's nothing," I say. "Come on, we're going to be late for History."


	11. Heartbreaker

_A/N- Really short chapter, I'm sorry. I'll make up for it next one. _

"Oh my God, how could you do something like that?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask Wang, who's staring at me, his brown eyes widened.

"I actually thought you were kind of nice, aru. But then you do something like this? We're all mad at you, aru!"

"All of you? You mean the Allies?"

"No. Me, Im Yong Soo, Mei Xiao, and Kaoru." For some reason, I can't find any of the Allies today, only Wang, who seems extremely pissed. At me.

"What did I do?"

"Don't act innocent, aru! You enjoyed breaking Kiku's heart! And we all hate you, aru! I can't believe Alfred chose _you. _Such a mean, horrible, awful"-

"Hold on," I say. "I didn't break Kiku's heart. So why do you think I'm such a horrible person?"

"Elizabeta said she was there when you rejected Kiku," Wang says. "She and Kiku are friends, you know. But then, Kiku was so sad Elizabeta had to comfort him, aru. All because of you!"

"What?" I exclaim. "I didn't! I wouldn't! Elizabeta's lying! Kiku doesn't even like her! He doesn't even like _me_!"

"Stop it, aru," Wang says. Then he gets up, starts walking away, then turns. "You know," he says softly. "We almost liked you, aru. But."

-###-  
"Can you believe it?" I huff, plopping down at Ludwig's table.

"_Was_?" Ludwig asks, biting into his apple.

"Elizabeta! Hang on, I'll tell you when Kiku and Feli get here."

"I must say, Kaitlyn, I'm surprised you chose to sit here," Ludwig says. "I thought you hated us, since you're always hanging with the Allies. But you're not that bad."

As soon as the other two get there, I start explaining the story. "And now Wang, Mei, Im Yong and Kaoru are mad at me!"

"I could explain to them," Kiku says. "It's... pathetic Elizabeta would do something like that."

"Ja," Ludwig says. "This makes me wonder what she'll do next. At least now we know vhy she wanted Kiku to ask Kaitlyn out."

"Ooh! Kaitlyn stood up for me yesterday~" Feliciano says happily. "Lovi was being a meanie! He almost hurt Kaitlyn, but she was so nice! I almost like her as much as you guys! Or pasta!"

Ludwig rolls his eyes and looks at me. "Coming from Feliciano, that's a compliment."

-###-  
"Where's Wang?" I ask Arthur.

Arthur shrugs. "I don't know. We always go to my house, you know? But he said he didn't want to come today." Arthur hands me a cookie. I make a mental note to excuse myself to the bathroom to throw it away.

"He's mad at me," I say. "He's mad at me, and so are his friends, but he doesn't even know the whole story, and most likely he hates me."

"What did you do?" Alfred asks. "Let me guess, you insulted a panda."

I shake my head. "No, it has to do with Elizabeta. And I'll tell you guys, I promise, but Kiku and Ludwig and Feliciano are helping me"-

"What?" Alfred laughs a little. "They're helping you? Wow."

I sigh deeply. No use wasting my breath, so I just smile and nod.

-###-  
"Don't look now," Arthur whispers, "but Wang is coming over."

Arthur and I have just stepped into the parking lot of the school. I decide not to look. If Kiku explained everything to Wang, he did, but if Wang still isn't getting it, that's his choice. Not mine.

"Kaitlyn, I am so sorry, aru! I had no idea that Elizabeta had done that. And you tried to explain, aru. I am just so sorry!"

"It's okay, Wang," I say, patting his shoulder. "You didn't know."

"Yes, I especially didn't know what a little wench Elizabeta is, aru," he says. "Kiku told me everything- photography club, her trying to ruin your life, Feliciano. I had no clue, aru. Once again, I really am sorry!"

"Hold on." I flash back to what Kiku told me when we were working on that science lab together. _Wang and Ivan only worsened the situation. _"Are you and Kiku friends?"

"Well, of course!" Wang says. "This is going to sound a little racist, aru, and I don't mean it, but we're all Asians, right? Kiku, Kaoru, Mei, Im Yong Soo and I."

"But Kiku told me..." I sigh. "Nevermind. Let's get out of this rain, alright? Arthur, where's Alfr"-

"Arthur! Wang! Kaitlyn!"

"Ivan?" Arthur mutters, narrowing his eyes. We see a figure running from a car towards us, veiled in rain and mist.

"What's wrong, Ivan?"

"G-Guys..." he's staring at us like he doesn't know whose name to say, and then he starts crying.

"Holy crap! Oh my God, Ivan? What's wrong? What happened?" I exclaim.

"K-Kat... S-She... S-she, she, she..." He takes a deep gulp of air, settling himself a little. "K-Kaitlyn, do you remember when you came over to see Natalia that one time, and you two found that note?"

"But... but that was a fake note. Katyusha was laughing over it, right? Because when Natalia expressed concern, Katyusha assured us it was all fake..." I feel dread running through me. If Ivan is crying, it's bad. No, let me rephrase. If _Ivan _is crying, there better be mutant space alien zombies ready to eat us all.  
_  
_ "She's dead."

"Bloody hell," Arthur exclaims. "Katyusha's dead? What happened?"

"She killed herself," Ivan says quietly, sadly. "I don't know why."

"I do," I say. "And so does Natalia. And I'll bet Elizabeta knows, too."


	12. Downfall of Ivan Braginski

If you looked at the Allies four years ago when they were all in middle school, it was an interesting sight.

Alfred, loud and obnoxious like always, was unusually quiet. The reason? That was the year his parents were getting divorced.

Arthur was behaving like usual, making good grades, kind to people in the halls. So regular Arthur, nobody noticed anything weird. Because there was nothing weird to notice.

Francis had come back from a trip at France, his home country, that summer, and had brought back all the other Allies T-Shirt souvenirs (Kiss Me- I'm French-but what do you expect from Francis?), and like Arthur, he was acting normally.

Wang wasn't fully into the Allies yet, more like a half 'member', joining them sometimes when they hung out, but didn't always get to be on their sports teams or go to the movies with them. Not until high school.

Ivan was having issues. More issues than Alfred with the Jones/Williams divorce. And most of those issues were coming from his family.

Specifically, his family was kind of complex. His mother had married a Ukrainian guy and had Katyusha, then married a Belarusian guy and had Natalia. He was smack in the middle with Russian-Belarusian blood, but everyone considered _him _the Russian and Natalia the Belarusian.

Another mystery of life.

Their house had been robbed, Katyusha had almost gotten kidnapped by some creepy middle-aged guy, and Ivan was taking out his issues. On other people. Mainly the three nervous kids, Toris, Eduard and Raivis. Ivan started bullying them less once they all hit sophomore year of high school, but it never died down completely.

But the one thing he never spoke about was his history with Elizabeta. They had never gotten along very well.

He wasn't the nicest to her, and he never dreamt that would come back to haunt him.

Oh, he was wrong.

-###-  
"I can't believe it." That's all I've heard the past half hour- from Arthur, from Michelle, from Alfred, from everyone Ivan tells.

But the most interesting reaction comes from the person I'd least expect- Elizabeta.

"Oh my God," she keeps repeating, over and over, crying. But I know that she's faking.

Arthur, Wang and I exchange glances. Michelle is leaning on Alfred's shoulder, sobbing, but at least she means it. Michelle and Katyusha were friends.

In every class, they give us free time. People huddle in groups, chatting, trembling. I don't even know where Natalia is. I don't think she came to school today.

During lunch, Alfred, Arthur, Wang, Francis and I try to comfort Ivan, doing anything we can to make him laugh or smile or _something._ I get a text.

_Ludwig Beilschmidt: i heard, about katyusha. i'm sorry._

_Me: thanks. im just really worried about ivan and natalia._

_Ludwig Beilschmidt: why are you worried about ivan?_

_Me: katyusha's his sister! dont you see how sad he is?_

_Ludwig Beilschmidt: no. if not for ivan, katyusha might still be alive!_

_Me: what on earth are you talking about?_

After that, Ludwig doesn't reply. I have no clue what he means. Ivan adored Katyusha. I even remember Natalia said she thought Ivan loved Katyusha more than her. It doesn't make sense.

I keep hearing whispers. Whispers in the cafeteria. Whispers in the hallways. Whispers I could swear are about one of us- one of the Allies.

During calc, Arthur approaches me. I'm just sitting there, staring out the window, not trying to engage myself in any of the conversations.

"Kaitlyn," he says, sitting down. "Listen to me. Ivan is being blamed for Katyusha's death. And this is really, really bad. Just listen. I don't believe this bloody crap for a second, but everyone else does. Not the Allies. But."

"What? Ludwig said something about how Kat's death was Ivan's fault."

"Okay. Apparently there's a rumor circulating that Ivan used to hit Katyusha, and call her mean names, if you know what I mean. Worse than regular siblings. Apparently that's one of the reasons why she killed herself."

"No." I shake my head. "He couldn't. He wouldn't. He loved Katyusha. I don't understand. Who would say such a..."

"Elizabeta," Arthur nods, confirming my thoughts. "But this is serious. Maybe if the police find out or something, there is nothing we can do. If a girl hits a guy, nobody cares. If a guy hits a girl, it's serious."

"Who did you hear this from?"

"Raivis."

"Raivis? Raivis Galante? He's a junior, isn't he? Let's go talk to him." I stand up, grab Arthur's hand, and we walk out without a pass, nobody noticing us slip away.

"Which class is he in?" I ask Arthur, our footsteps echoing around the empty hallway, only the sound of the rain filling up the silence.

"Art."

I walk into the classroom and go straight to the art teacher. "Um, Raivis Galante, please?"

"Of course," she replies. "Raivis, go on."

-###-  
"Why? Why?" I'm almost screaming at the boy who's a little shorter than I am, and Arthur has to tell me to lower my voice.

"Why did you tell people Ivan hit Katyusha?" He asks Raivis, his voice calmer than mine.

"I-I'm sorry- I didn't want- I didn't want any rumors spread about me."

"About you?" I echo. "What do you mean?"

"Elizabeta threated to spread rumors about me, unless I told everyone her made-up story about Ivan. I don't feel completely bad, because Ivan is a bully, but I know he didn't ever hit Katyusha."

I sigh. "What are we going to do now?"

"Raivis," Arthur says. "Don't tell anyone else. We'll make sure Elizabeta doesn't spread any rumors about you, but try convincing people you were mistaken about Ivan. Do whatever you can. We'll try to make sure Ivan doesn't find out you were talking about him, and that Elizabeta doesn't find out that you are trying to take the rumors back." He sighs. "This is serious, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Raivis mutters. "But I didn't- I wasn't- I really miss Katyusha." I see his eyes tear up.

"It's okay," I say. "I miss her, too. I don't think it's really hit me yet."

"She already had a college picked out," Raivis sniffs. "She was so excited. And she really loved everyone, you know? She had a big heart. She loved life." He looks confused. "She loved life, I don't understand why..."

And then it really hits me- I don't know why Katyusha did it, either. She loved life, she loved herself, she loved helping people and just being around them in general.

Elizabeta is the only answer. Horrible, awful, rotten Elizabeta who, if it was up to me, would be bitten to death by wolves then left in the middle of a desert for the vultures to eat her remains.

But it's not up to me.

-###-  
"Go talk to Ivan."

I jump. Alfred seems to have come out of nowhere. His voice is unusually serious.

"Why? What about you?"

"Please, Kaitlyn. I just managed to ditch Michelle for two seconds. Said I was going to the bathroom. She's really upset, and I can't comfort Ivan while there's a sobbing girl clinging to my arm." He shakes his head. "I know he likes you as much as me, so just please, talk to him."

"Okay." I've never heard Alfred sound so worried.

I walk over to where Ivan is sitting alone, looking down at his hands. He looks up when he sees me sit down. "I don't want to hear it," Ivan says. "I know you think I'm a bad person, da?"

"No," I say. "I don't. It's a lie. Ivan, you don't seriously believe that we would think you used to hit Katyusha?"

He looks hopeful. "I had hoped you wouldn't."

"Don't worry. I knew Elizabeta was mean, but I didn't know she could be this bad. I really hope nothing happens."


	13. The Winter Dance

We got one day of break, then back to work, solid, hard facts, papers, tests. But the teachers seemed distracted, and in the classes I used to share with Katyusha, I notice the teachers staring at her desk as the talk or grade papers.

"Study group!" Alfred cheers, belly flopping onto a beanbag, holding a textbook and a bag of chips. He's trying to cheer us all up, mostly Ivan.

"Okay, Literature terms," Arthur says. "Defenestration. Anybody? Example?"

I laugh. "Why did we get that word? Okay, okay. If I had my way, I would defenestrate Elizabeta out of your window and turn the ground into molten lava with mutant sharks."

"Correct," Arthur laughs. "Well, at least you got the definition right."

As we continue doing our homework in our usual location- Arthur's house- all the classes and long words and equations and crap are making me bored. But it seems so rude, I think, to be allowed to be bored when some people- like Ivan and Natalia- are anything but that.

Eventually, our homework done and all the snacks gone, we head home.

-###-  
"Sweetie? I know you just got home from the Kirkland's, but could you come here really quick?"

"Mooom. I'm in the middle of a movie, and the"-

"Someone is here for you, Kaitlyn!"

I scramble down the stairs, wishing I was wearing something other than a T-shirt and Nike running shorts. "Who is it?"

"Okay, have fun, sweetie!" Mom shoves me out of the door. Someone's holding an umbrella over my head.

"Like, surprise! I'm taking you to the mall! Like, relaxation!"

"Um, Feliks? Feliks Łukasiewicz? Sorry, but I don't know you all that well, and I was hoping that maybe, uh, I could just walk back inside"-

"Like, Kaitlyn! I'm friends with Feli, it's all good. What, are you, like, worried I'm gonna assault you? No! We're just going to the mall!"

"I don't like the mall," I mutter.

"Tough luck," Feliks cheers, shoving/pushing/guiding me into the passenger seat of his car.

-###-  
The mall trip was quite interesting, especially because all Feliks wanted to do was look at dresses in teen shops. He spent the entire time blabbing, over-using the word 'like', until I finally asked him if he was sad about Katyusha. He shut up immediately, bought me one of those huge pretzels, and we sat down in the foot court, not saying a word.

I thanked him as I got out of the car, wondering why he chose to take me to the mall. I wasn't that close to Katyusha. I mean, she was really nice, but we didn't speak much.

My mom asked me if I wanted to talk about Katyusha. "No, thanks," I say, trudging upstairs, collapsing into bed.

I seriously wonder what kind of hell hole my mother has dumped me in with this whole private school thing. Yes, my friends are truly fabulous, but some people. I'm not even sure how this works, but Elizabeta could get Ivan in serious trouble. I wonder if Ivan knows that. I wonder if Elizabeta knows it.

I roll over, too antsy to go to sleep, and switch on my phone.

Alfred's the only person I can think to call.

"Hey, Al? Were you trying to sleep?" I ask when he picks up.

"No," he replies. "I can't. Dude, I'm so freaking tired, but I can't sleep."

"I can't either. Feliks just dragged me to the mall, and really, I couldn't fall asleep if drugged. I've just been thinking a lot."

"About Katyusha? And Elizabeta?"

"You know it. And Raivis Galante. And Arthur- and I still don't understand what he said the other day- and also Kiku and Ludwig and Feliciano. Really about everything. But..." I pause, taking a breath. "I'm sorry. I was rambling. I know you don't want to hear this shit."

"It's okay," Alfred says. "I don't care. Not today. Say whatever you want."

I explain to him about Raivis and Elizabeta's threats against him, and how she and Kiku used to be friends, and even though he already knows, I retell the story of when Natalia and I found Katyuhsa's 'fake' note.

"Was it real, do you think?" I ask. No reply. "Al?"

It takes a second, but I hear gentle snores through the speaker. Alfred fell asleep on me. I hang up and pull the sheets over me. Oh well, it felt good to get everything out.

-###-  
"Next week! That's right! Make sure you've got a dress, a date, and a good-fun attitude!"

A good-fun attitude? How can you have a 'good-fun attitude' when someone just died? That's what I want to yell to the prissy sophomore who bounces up to me, her hair curled, and hands me a flyer.

"What's this?" I ask Arthur, scanning the paper with my eyes. He's grabbing stuff from his locker, and I'm waiting for him.

"Winter Dance," Arthur replies. Alfred chuckles smugly, his arms crossed. "You going this year, Iggy?"

"Don't call me that," sniffs Arthur. "And yes, I am going. I didn't go last year."

"'Cause you didn't have a date," laughs Alfred.

"He didn't?" I ask, fairly surprised. I'd need both hands and some of my toes to count all the girls here that like Arthur. And if this was just last year, how did he _not_ get a date?

"Joking," Alfred snorts. "No really. Six girls asked him, but he said no to every single one."

"Huh," I say. "Well, if you're going this year, have fun."

"You're not going?" Arthur asks. "All of us Allies had agreed to go this year. It's going to be fun. I mean, Alfred, you can take Michelle."

"I don't think so," I say. "Dances don't seem very fun."

"Yes," Alfred says mischievously, "who are _you _asking, Arthur? Or are you going solo?"

"I know who I'm asking," Arthur snaps. "I'm just going to wait a little bit before I ask her."

Alfred looks taken aback. "Really? Iggy, you're growing up! Who is it? Aww, Iggy in wuv!"

"Shut up, you git," Arthur stammers. "And I'm older than you! But, um, yeah, see you guys later." He shakes his head and waves a little, walking into his homeroom.

"You're seriously going?" I ask Alfred. "I guess it could be fun, but... I don't know. Next week?"

"Yeah," Alfred says. "I'd ask ya, but I gotta take Michelle." His eyes widen. "N-No! Not like that! I mean, as a friend! Just a _friend! _A hero like me can't be fallin' in love all over the place!"

-###-  
Couples are mostly expected. Mostly. Alfred is definitely going with Michelle, Francis is taking some girl named Jeanne, who's in the other senior class, the one Michelle came from, Ivan is actually going by himself (but not because he's lonely- again, he's got girls lined up around the block- _all _of the Allies do- but he doesn't want to go with anyone), Wang asked Lien Chung, Natalia actually said yes to Toris, Elizabeta and Gilbert. Kiku is taking Mei, Ludwig is taking Bella, and Feliciano? Oh, who on earth knows?

During math, I feel like stabbing myself with my pencil until I bleed to death. But since I don't want to die, my second best option is to get up and leave. But since I don't want an administration referral, the third best option is just to sit there and bear it.

Until someone walks up to me. Arthur.

"Hey, Arthur. What's up?" I mutter, leaning my head on my arm, fiddling with my pencil.

"Uhh, Kaitlyn? Well, y-you know how everyone else has a d-date? I was wondering if you'd like to, um, maybe go to the dance with me?"


	14. Confessions

I stare back at Arthur.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, sure!" I blurt out, blushing. He looks relieved.

"I mean, I don't like you- wait, no, I _do _like you, just as a friend- ugh, no, this is coming out very wrong," Arthur mutters.

I laugh. "No, it's fine. I get it. I'll go with you."

-###-  
"Oh, dude! You're serious?"

"No way! That's... interesting, _mon cher!"_

I laugh as I tell everyone that Arthur asked me to the dance. Alfred is being condescending again, nodding his head while eating his burger, saying, "I knew it, I knew it."

"So we're all going, aru!" Wang cheers. "How's the Raivis situation going?"

"How do you know about that?" I ask.

Alfred speaks up. "You know, I heard some of the stuff you said yesterday. I only fell asleep after you started talking about... what was it? Photography club? Yeah, that was it."

"Oh." I turn to Arthur. "What do you think?"

"Actually, nobody really seems to be noticing Ivan, not like they did a few days ago. But that makes me a little worried. If Elizabeta'd go to such lengths just to make one person unhappy, what could she do otherwise?"

"Um..." Ivan trails off. "We were, I mean, Elizabeta and I, kind of childhood friends, da? But not really friends. So maybe she deserves to be able to spread rumors about me."

"No, she doesn't!" I exclaim. "Don't think like that. Whatever you did to her, I'm sure it can't be worse than this."

"Twenty," Ivan blurts out. We all look at him. "Uhh, what?" Alfred asks.

"Twenty calls," Ivan sighs. "Twenty calls from Elizabeta, trying to guilt trip me about Katyusha. But I didn't do anything. And she knows that."

"Stalkerish," I mumble. "She should get in trouble. Lots of it. But if we can just hang on for one more year, we'll be off, and probably won't see Elizabeta again."

-###-  
I pull out a dress- a black one. It looks fancy enough, but not too fancy. I invited Natalia and Michelle over, and Natalia is wearing a dark blue dress, Michelle a red and white one.

"You guys excited?" Natalia asks. "I am! I went last year, and it was fun."

"I am," Michelle says. "But Kaitlyn, you've never been. But you'll love it! Trust me!"

The dance is being held at school, and the huge cafeteria was cleared, shining snowflake decorations- not cheesy ones- hung up with white lights strung everywhere.

I meet Arthur there. Michelle squeals and runs to Alfred, throwing herself into his arms. We all watch, amused.

"Katiyln, isn't it?"

"Huh?" I notice a girl in a green dress standing near Wang. "You're Lien Chung, right?" I ask her. "It's nice to finally meet you."

The doors open, and Elizabeta walks in, smiling, Lili at her side. Lili looks uncomfortable and I feel very sorry for her. I remember how Elizabeta said she thought Lili was annoying.

"Oh, goody gumdrops," Natalia mutters. "_Just _who I wanted to see on this very gorgeous night." She walks over to get some punch, ducking behind people, probably so Elizabeta won't see her.

"I'd like to thank everybody for helping me arrange this," she says clearly into a microphone, looking right at me as she says this. "It was an... honor to prepare this party, and a huge thanks to everyone who helped! " She claps a little.

"Sorry, I think I just barfed in my mouth," Alfred whispers to me. Elizabeta continues. "I'm sure most of us seniors know about the recent tragedy... I'm sure you all do." Her voice becomes sad, fake sad laced with sarcasm.

"Katyusha Braginskaya was a beautiful girl full of life. I'm sure we'll _all_ miss her _so_ much." I feel my fists clenching. Everyone else in our little group of the Allies and their dates looks like they share my feelings.

"You hold her arms, I'll punch her," Alfred whispers to me. Ivan looks outraged. I try to calm him down. "Hey, it's okay. We all know what really happened."

Wang raises an eyebrow. "I don't, aru. What?"

"Oh, you don't? Elizabeta was a bully. Like, dude, worse than Ivan and those three nervous kids, no offense. But man, it hit her hard, I think." Alfred adjusts his glasses.

All of us are caught in that awkward place- should we just stay quiet or start to dance? Dancing seems rude somehow, especially with Ivan standing right there. With the Katyusha thing. We continue to trade glances until the whole thing becomes to weird.

"I'm going to get something to drink," I say, breaking the silence. Everyone looks relieved. Arthur nods. "Yes, I'm going too."

Arthur pours me some punch, and I think of what to say to him.

"Here." "Oh, thanks."

"So I'm curious," I begin, sipping punch. "Why'd you ask me to the dance?"

"Well." He blushes a little. "I've got to be a gentleman, you know? I was pretty sure Ivan was going to ask you- I mean, we're all really close friends- but I guess not."

"So you felt bad for me because I didn't get asked by someone else," I joke. I don't seriously mean it, but Arthur must think I do. "Not at all!" He exclaims. "I actually... um... Ireallysortoflikeyou..."

I pause, my punch glass halfway to my mouth. "What?"

"I think you heard me," he mutters, looking down at the ground, bright red.

"Arthur"- Right as I'm about to say something, I feel an arm thrown around my shoulder. I jump.

"Kaitlyn! I'm so surprised to see you here! I mean, I didn't think any guy would be _crazy _enough to ask a deformed potato like you! But hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Elizabeta. "Well," Arthur replies evenly, "you're not exactly drop-dead gorgeous either, Eliza," he snaps.

"So, you organized this thing?" I ask the Hungarian, not in the mood to argue.

"Yes, with class way beyond your mind," she giggles. I hear the words, but if you only heard her tone of voice, you'd think we were best friends complimenting each other.

"It's nice," I say. She's not expecting this, but quickly makes a comeback. "Of course it's nice, silly! I'm sure you've never seen anything quite like this, considering that your hair looks like a rat's nest!" It doesn't, Natalia even told me I looked gorgeous, but of course Elizabeta finds _something_ to say.

"Michelle did my hair! Because guess what, I actually have friends who are willing to come near me!" I fire back.

"Well! I see the polite gentleman Arthur has not exactly fallen for a polite girl!"

"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Arthur asks, blushing.

Elizabeta rolls her eyes. "Oh, please," she says. "I didn't have to. From the way you were blushing and stammering, and the way Kaitlyn looked socially awkward- or perhaps it's just her- anyone could figure it out."

"Socially awkward, huh? Well, last time _I _checked, Kaitlyn is best friends with the Allies, not to mention most of the school." Natalia! Natalia must've walked up when we were all fighting.

"Give me a break," Elizabeta sneers. "Clearly, we all know that you ditched me and are only hanging with _her _now because your stupid whining sister is dead and your drunkie brother is running low on vodka."

Natalia's eyes widen, and Arthur's jaw drops open. "D-Did you... did you just..."

"Did I just what, sweetie?" Elizabeta winks one of her green eyes, her super-sweet tone of voice back. She blows a kiss to all three of us and walks away, getting lost in the dancing crowd.


	15. A Deadlock

"That... that... I can't even describe it!" Natalia fumes. "Oh yes, my stupid whining _dead _sister and my drunkie brother?"

"Natalia," I say, resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, her opinion isn't worth anything."

"I'll be right back," Natalia spits, and I can tell she's trying very hard not to cry- she doesn't want anyone to see her show weakness. I guess it's an Arlovskaya thing. Maybe it's why she stayed home the day we all found out about Katyusha, and sent Ivan to tell everyone.

"Wow," Arthur sighs. "Elizabeta can be really rude, can't she?"

"I know." I don't want to mention what Arthur was trying to tell me before Elizabeta waltzed up, because it's awkward, and I don't know if I feel the same way. And that sucks.

-###-  
"Natalia, are you okay? You've been in here for a half hour." I push open the door to the girls' restroom, the one on the second story, way back in the science wing. Natalia must have been trying to get as far away as possible.

"I'm fine!" She screams. I can tell she's been crying, and her makeup is smeared.

"Natalia"-

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "It's really hard, you know? Katyusha. And I don't think Ivan's doing too well either. And our family is falling apart. And Elizabeta was never very nice, but now she's really lashing out." She sniffles and tries to smile. "But... I just needed a little bit. Don't you, sometimes? To cry it off?"

"I understand," I say. "Why don't you come back down? I haven't seen Elizabeta since."

She smiles. "Oh, all right."

-###-  
"Isn't it pretty?" I ask. Today, Saturday, the day after the good/bad/interesting dance, it started snowing. I don't know when, but I woke up around 9:30 and the whole ground was blanketed in snow, with more of the stuff falling from above.

"Yeah." Ivan looks down at his hands.

"Dude, are you okay?" Alfred looks over at Ivan. We actually all had free time today, and we're at Ivan's house. His parents cleared out for some reason, and Natalia is at Michelle's.

"Da," Ivan says. "I am not worried at all! So do not worry _about_ me!"

"Ivan, what's wr"- I begin, but he turns on me, frustrated.

"Kaitlyn! Would you listen, da? I already said, _nothing is wrong_!"

"I'm sorry." I hug the pillow sitting next to me on the couch, wishing I hadn't said anything. At least the weekend is a break from school.

Alfred and Arthur exchange a glance. I don't wonder what happened to Ivan, because it's obviously Elizabeta, but I wonder what he's thinking. If only Elizabeta didn't exist, then Katyusha would still be alive, Raivis wouldn't be traumatized, and, well, you get the point.

Silence hangs in the air, until Francis finally gets up. "Uh, I have to go, um, uh..."

"Yeah, me too." Alfred gets up and walks right out the door to where his car is waiting. I am in that awkward time and space- get up and leave, or don't?

"See you guys Monday."

-###-  
I look over the shopping list again. Carrots. Cookies. Spaghetti.

"Kaitlyn!" I jump and almost drop the jar of tomato sauce I'm holding, catching it at the last second, turning to see Elizabeta. Leave a trip to the grocery store to buy sustenance to be ruined by Elizabeta.

"What do you want?" I spit. She smiles. "Oh, why so mean? What have I done?"

"Elizabeta, you could get Ivan in a lot of trouble. You know that, right? And Raivis too."

She flips her hair over her shoulder. "Kaitlyn! I don't understand why you're so upset. It was just a joke, you know!"

"But"-

"Fine." Elizabeta sighs. "I know you know the truth about me, Kaitlyn. That I lied about Ivan. But guess what? I also know you are in love with Arthur."

"What are you talking about? I'm not"-

"I know." Elizabeta's smile returns. "You're not really in love with him, that I know. Unless you're lying, however for now I'll choose to believe you. But, let's just say, for example, you tell more people the truth about Ivan. Then, one clumsy accident by me, and whoops! Everyone knows about Arthur!"

"But that's mean! To Arthur!"

"Hmm. Looks like you really care. So if I lie about you and Arthur, it won't take much to convince the student body."

I realize what she's saying. She wants to protect her reputation, and to do so she is willing to tell even more lies about Arthur and me. But too many people already know the truth about Katyusha and Ivan. The Allies. Natalia. Raivis. Kiku and Ludwig and Feli. Probably Michelle and Lili, too. But if I keep telling the truth, it'll hurt Arthur. A lot.

"Arthur or Ivan," Elizabeta says. "Pick one."

"We're just trying to tell the _truth,"_ I insist. "You put yourself in this position."

"Do people who always tell the so-called truth get anywhere in life? No. Besides, why should _your _truth be any more valid than mine? Why would people be more likely to believe you than me? Do you understand?"

"Yes." I can't believe I thought Elizabeta was stupid. She is a lot smarter than any of us give her credit for.

"So if you can keep quiet, so can I. But if you can talk, so can I."

I sigh deeply. "Elizabeta, I don't know why you hate me so much. Honestly, I'm sorry if I ever did anything to offend you. Could we please try to start over or something? I don't want any more of this drama."

"Ah-ah." Elizabeta's grinning that grin of amusement, and it's obvious she's looking down upon me. "Do you remember that party I took you to? The one where, on Monday, I tried to apologize? I asked if we could start over, and you left me crying." She narrows her eyes, still smiling. "Do you remember what you said? You said, 'Why are you blaming it on the alcohol? I don't think you're sorry, et cetera, et cetera.' So really, this whole thing... Your fault."

"It's not."

"Yes, Kaitlyn. Just remember, now we're not just playing with your feelings and your reputation. I'm willing to bring other people into this. And when people are crying and devastated, you'll have to look at them and think, 'This is my fault. All my fault."

But it wouldn't be my fault. It would be Elizabeta's fault. "I understand," I say, in sake of ending the conversation.

"Good!" Elizabeta turns her smile on full-charm. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy some fruit. See you around!"


	16. She Ended It

_A/N- I don't know if I'm going to be updating this fanfic as often as I was before. I'll finish the story, I promise, so don't worry, but I've finally started losing interest in Hetalia yesterday- yay! (it's a long story...) I'm glad, because it was getting to the point where I was unhealthily obsessed with it, heehee. But I still love the characters! Now, on with the story._

The blaring alarm pulls me from sleep. My hand thrashes out and I slam the snooze button, dragging myself out of bed and getting dressed.

Once I'm ready for school, I skip down the stairs, and my mother still isn't home. When I got home from the grocery store on Saturday, I found she had left a note saying she would be back by Wednesday or Thursday. Oh well. I pour myself a bowl of cereal and glance outside.

The snow has turned into rain, and the sparkling white stuff that was on the ground yesterday has transformed into ugly black-ish slush.

Arthur pulls into the driveway and I feel anxious. I saw him Saturday, but I still have no clue of what he's going to say. Maybe he hates me. Probably not. I can't be sure of anything, though.

"Good morning," he says evenly as I get in his car.

"Hi," I mumble, closing the door and wrapping my fingers around the steaming hot coffee cup. "H-How're you?"

"Kaitlyn," he finally says, looking right in my eyes. "I get it, alright? I'm sorry I said anything."

"No, Arthur." I take a deep breath. "I'm really sorry, okay? But I mean, it's not like..." I trail off hopelessly.

"You're right," he says, keeping his eyes on the road. "It's not like you'd ever like me back."

"T-that's not what I meant."

"I know. It's okay, Kaitlyn. I just feel really stupid now. Anyways, Michelle called me yesterday."

I realize Arthur is trying to change the subject, and I silently thank him. "Oh, really? She did? Why? Is everything okay?"

"She said... and you can't tell him... she said she's tired of Alfred. But she doesn't know how to break it off. And she knows Alfred still likes her, and she doesn't want to hurt his feelings, especially not right after the dance."

"He's Alfred, though. He'd never show it, if a person hurt his feelings." "Unless it was you. Why do you think he used to argue with you so much?" "What are you talking about?"

"Well, us Allies- excluding Alfred- uh, kinda think, you know, you two would make a cute couple. Remember the day Kiku asked you out, err, well, Elizabeta forced Kiku to ask you out? And I said it was obvious you loved someone else?"

"Hoooold up! You _just_ said Alfred still loved Michelle!"

"Well, when you first enrolled at this school, Michelle wasn't in our senior class, was she?"

"No, but... Michelle was already in our class when you said you and the other Allies thought I was in love, right? So your argument is invalid. Sorry, you lose!"

Arthur chuckles. "Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn. Sigh. Do you remember how on your very first day here, Elizabeta ditched you at lunch? And we had to come sit with you? Alfred forced us to. I'm glad he did, but do you know what he said when he saw you sitting alone?" Arthur tries to mimic Alfred's voice. "'Oh, dude, she's the one.' And that's a quote."

"No way," I laugh. "You're making that up. Besides, he's nice with Michelle, don'tchya think?"

"Yes, but Michelle wants to end the relationship." I feel really bad for Arthur. He's talking about how cute I would look with Alfred, and that probably doesn't make him feel very good. As soon as the car stops, I hop out and start walking towards the main entrance, using my battered old literature textbook as an umbrella.

"Kaitlyn!" I don't know where Arthur went, probably using the side entrance so he can pick up something, but Michelle's voice stops me. I stand there, waiting, until she runs up to me. "Kaitlyn, I'm so glad I've found you!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine. But I want to break up with"-

"I know. With Alfred."

"Oh no! Is it that obvious?" Michelle looks worried, and I have to giggle. "No, no. Arthur told me."

She sighs relief. "Oh, good. Well, you're really good friends with him, so what should I say? Do you think I would hurt his feelings? I don't want to do that."

"Michelle. Just tell him. Don't worry about his feelings. Think of it like this. If you were dating a guy and he stopped liking you, you wouldn't want to keep dating him if it made him unhappy, right? If he really likes you, as long as your happy, he'll be happy."

"Who will be happy?" I jump in surprise. Alfred walked up to our conversation without Michelle or me hearing.

"Um... you," Michelle says quietly. Alfred's blue eyes widen. "Alfred. I'm sorry, you're really nice and funny, but this just isn't working out. I want to break up. But we can still be friends?"

"Oh... of... of course," Alfred whispers. Michelle turns and walks the other way, and Alfred leaves me standing there, trying to walk inside, but I see him wipe his eyes.

"Al, wait," I call, running after him. He turns around, and I can see his face is wet, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Damn it... damn it all, why am I crying...?"

"Hey, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, dude... I'm going to the bathroom. Nobody can, uh, see me like this." He sniffles and disappears into the restroom. I stand there.

It's so weird, isn't it? I bet if you're reading this, you know what I mean. With people like Natalia and Alfred, who try so hard to not let anyone see them show weakness. When in reality, they cry just like anyone else.

I sigh and start walking to homeroom.


	17. Hit-and-Run

"Did you hear, Kaitlyn? There's a party on Friday." Francis moves a chair away from the table with his foot and plops down, setting his lunch tray near my elbow.

I raise my eyebrow. "Who's hosting?"

"Antonio. And where's everyone else?" Francis scans the cafeteria, looking semi-concerned. I was the first person at our usual lunch table, but Ivan and I had the class before lunch together, and he said he was stopping by the art room to pick up some supplies.

"Dunno," I say. "They'll be here soon. So, about this party." I twist the lid off of a can of soda. "I'm not going."

"What? Why not?" Francis asks. "Is it because of the last party you went to?"

"Yeah," I mumble darkly. "It's sort of obvious that's not really my thing, right?" I try to force a laugh. "But maybe if you're all going..."

"We are," Francis says. "You should come. Alfred said he's inviting Michelle along, too."

"Francis. Didn't you hear what happened this morning?" I sip my soda, trying to sound nonchalant. "Michelle ended it with Alfred. They're over."

"What?!" Francis spazzes out and knocks over a bag of chips, sending them flying everywhere. He starts to pick them up, then freezes. "Has he... has he said anything to you?"

"No," I say. "Last time I saw him, he was hiding in the bathroom. Actually, I saw him go in the bathroom, it's not like, yeah, you know." I try to focus on eating.

Ivan plops down in the chair to my left, mumbling something about wanting to hit Gilbert with a pipe that fell out of his kitchen sink.

"Um, have you seen Alfred?" Francis asks.

"Nyet," Ivan says. "He is in second class with me. He wasn't there. I thought maybe he was not feeling well, and perhaps stayed home sick."

I look over at Francis. "You don't think he's still in the restroom...? He was crying."

"Eh? What is going on?" Ivan asks, looking unconcerned, not even glancing up from the book he's started to read.

"Michelle broke up with Alfred."

Ivan's head flies up from reading. "What? You are lying."

"Who's lying, aru?"

"Uggh! How many times do I have to repeat this story?" I complain as Wang takes a seat, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

"Michelle dumped Alfred," Francis says. "We haven't seen him since school started, and Ivan thought he hadn't come to school."

"Hmm..." Wang takes a bite of a salad. "Actually, I think he was in a bathroom, aru. Because as soon as I walked in during a class change, I heard someone slam himself into a stall, aru. I asked if they were okay, and they just yelled for me to go away. But I didn't know it was Alfred, aru."

"Great." Francis sits back with a sigh. "So now Alfred is hibernating heartbroken in the restroom like a girl, and we don't even know where that frog-face is."

I look down and pretend to study my fingernails, but nobody notices anything.

"Hey, you all know Matthew Williams right?" Ivan asks.

"UGH yes," I say, resting my head on my hand.

"That's Alfred's little sophomore brother, isn't it?" Wang asks. "What about him, aru?"

"Kaitlyn, you do not seem to like him very much, da?" Ivan says to me. "Funny, because he was talking to me about you. But he did not call you by the right name, and now he has it in his head that you are named Sarah."

"Sarah?" I ask. "Where did he even get that idea from?"

"Oh..." Francis sighs. "Sarah? _That _Sarah? You know, I find that sort of weird."

"Da," Ivan says. "But anyways, Matthew"-

"Who's Sarah?" I break in. "I didn't think there were any Sarahs here, were there? Maybe in the other senior class? But, isn't Matthew a sophomore? Is there a sophomore named Sarah?"

"No, not exactly..." Ivan trails off, looking and Wang and Francis for help.

Francis finally breaks the silence. "Sarah was... Matthew's girlfriend when he was a freshman. She died."

"How?"

"Car accident. Too much to drink. That sort of thing, aru," Wang says.

"She was just a freshman, and she was partying and driving?" I know I should have more sympathy, but it's a dumb thing to be doing, honestly. I know it must have hurt a lot of people, like Katyusha's death, but still. It was almost her fault.

"Non," Francis says. "Sarah was a sophomore, a year above Matthew. She was driving to her grandmother's house to bring her grandmother soup because she had been sick. Sarah's grandfather had just died, so there was nobody to watch out over her grandmother. Anyways, Sarah didn't know, but there was a senior party two blocks away from her grandmother's house. Somebody from that party slammed into her car. And she... yeah."

"Oh. That's horrible." I blink. "But... the person didn't get caught or anything? It was a hit-and-run?"

Wang nods, looking sad. "Yes. And anyways, whoever did it is long gone, aru. They'd be a sophomore in college. So it's no use trying to track them down, aru."

"Great. So now Matthew is calling me after his dead girlfriend. Did you guys know Sarah?"

"Alfred did." Ivan drinks some of his water. "The rest of us never met her, though. But as I was saying, Kaitlyn, Matthew would like you to met him tomorrow morning in the parking lot."

"Why?" I demand. "I'm not going unless I know the reason." It might be stubborn, but I've always been like this, I don't know why.

"No clue," Ivan says. "You'll just have to go, okay?"

"Ugh. Fine. Would someone please go check on Alfred?" I slump back in my seat, my arms crossed, until I notice Wang, Ivan and Francis staring at me. "What?"

Ivan giggles. "Heh. Kaitlyn, you look funny when you're concerned~"

"Oh shut up."


	18. Invitations

_A/N- Oh yeah! Sarah is just made-up. She isn't in Hetalia, and if there actually is a country with the human name Sarah (I don't think there is) I don't mean her. _

"Je t'aime."

"Pardon?"

"I love you."

"Hold on."

This is why I don't like meeting up with people early in the morning. I agreed to see Matthew in the parking lot before homeroom, and he's dumping this crap on me. I sigh and tap my foot.

"Ha ha, very funny. Why did Ivan tell me to come here?" I check my watch. "Seriously, though. What are you going to tell me?"

"That I love you," Matthew says. "Sarah, I really do love you."

"Matthew," I say. "My name is Kaitlyn. It's not Sarah. I know Sarah was your old girlfriend, and I'm sorry. But my name is Kaitlyn."

"No, your name is Sarah." Matthew tilts his head, looking confused and amused at the same time. "Have you lost it? You're forgetting your own name. What's next, your friends?"

"I'm not Sarah," I say, beginning to be concerned. It sounds crazy, but is there a chance Matthew is just completely insane? He thinks my name is Sarah. He thinks I _am _Sarah. But I'm not, not at all, and I shouldn't have agreed to meet him. No way. I didn't know he was this weird. Alfred's little brother, and I don't see the resemblance.

"I'm going inside," I say. "I'm cold. Goodbye. Please leave me alone." I slam the door into his face, sighing in relief as I walk into the heated building, heading for my locker.

"How was the meeting with Matthew?" Arthur asks, waving me over to where he's standing near the water fountains. Yesterday he went home in the middle of the day. I don't know why, and he didn't offer to tell any of us.

"Is there any way that kid is sane?" I whisper. "He insists my name is Sarah. He says he love me. Is that, like, normal or something?"

Arthur shakes his head, his emerald eyes confused. "But Matthew told me... Oh, nevermind. Whatever. He isn't crazy, I promise. It's just that Sarah's death hit him harder than most people. A lot of kids ignore him, so he was just happy that someone was paying him attention."

"Hah..." I sigh. "This school really, really sucks."

"Hey, I've survived here for years," Arthur says.

"Yeah, and we see how a normal kid turned into... you," I joke, and we both laugh.

-###-  
The week passes in a blaze (mostly homework, Matthew bothering me when I'm trying to do something, like eat lunch, and Alfred sulking around), and Elizabeta hasn't even said anything to any of us. Neither has Raivis. But not as many people have been whispering about Ivan, so hopefully she's stopped that.

But I see her like a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any second, not an extinct one.

For once, Friday comes too soon, but it's because I really do not want to go to Antonio's party. The last one was Gilbert's, and you know how that worked out.

Well, it's Friday, so I just hope the Allies are happy I'm dragging myself to this. To be honest, Alfred hasn't cheered up much, just yesterday I brought him some cupcakes after school that Francis and I baked together, and he just blinked and said thank-you and sat there, looking sad.

Kiku asks me during science to sit with him at lunch because Ludwig asks, and Ivan elbows me in the ribs and asks me not to go, but I tell him that I have to sit with Kiku if he wants this whole Katyusha rumor cleared up.

Which is a lie, but what else was I supposed to say?

I plop down in a chair next to Ludwig, and he raises an eyebrow. "You look... upset."

"Nothing," I say quickly. "Just... well, give it a minute or two. You'll see." I glance across the cafeteria and notice Matthew starting to walk over to the Allies, stopping when he realizes I'm not there, Alfred waving his fork and telling his little brother to get lost, don't bother me when I'm with my friends, go away.

"Pasta, pasta, pasta~" Feliciano sings, until Ludwig stomps on the Italian's foot under the table and asks him if he would _please _shut up.

Something occurs to me for the first time, and I feel like an idiot. "Ludwig? You're German, right?"

"Ja. Why?"

"Kiku's Japanese... Feli's Italian... doesn't that make you like the Axis powers back from World War Two? And the Allies... hold on." I remember what nice-Elizabeta told me on the veeerrryyy first day. _This school is very diverse._

Ludwig chuckles. "Kaitlyn, I can't believe you didn't notice that before. Speaking of which, it's December thirteenth. You know what today is?"

"Oh, yeah. Friday the thirteenth."

If Kiku weren't so polite, I could swear he probably would facepalm. "No, Kaitlyn," he says. "Today's the last day of school. Tomorrow's Winter Break."

"It _is?" _I exclaim. "I forgot! Oh yeah. Are you guys going to Antonio's party later today?"

"You mean..." Kiku stares at me, his brown eyes wide with some kind of emotion, almost wonder, like I'm a unicorn that could save him from his deathbed. "You actually got invited? And you're sitting with _us?"_

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, standing up, starting to walk to my next class. "Anybody can go to parties, right?"

"Nein," Ludwig says. "Who invited you?"

"Francis. Why? Do you guys want to come? I didn't know you had to be invited. Well, if you three want to come, just say _I _invited you, okay? I don't think it's fair some people aren't allowed to come while others get automatic access."

Feliciano dances around. "Yay! Yay! Party!"

I can't help but to laugh, not watching where I'm going, and I run smack into somebody. "Oops! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" I ask, turning my head from Feliciano to see if the person I ran into needs help getting up or something.

It's not who I expected. I've learned one thing from this school- expect the unexpected. But it's not even someone I know that well.

It's Vash Zwingli. And he's crying.


	19. The Definition of Beauty

"Vash! Oh my gosh, are you okay? What's wrong?" I exclaim, surprised someone like _Vash _could be crying. I mean, he's not sobbing, but it's the kind of crying that usually hints the worst has happened to someone- no screaming, no yelling, but silent tears running down their face, them trying to act normal.

"I'm _fine!" _The Swiss shouts, jerking his wrist out of my hand. I had grabbed him out of instinct to try to get him to calm down, clearly he didn't like that idea. "Maybe if you would just grow up and be tough and stop poking around in other people's business!"

"Me? Grow up?" I spit. "I'm not the one who's crying!" I'm kind of surprised nobody's seeing this, but we are in a usually deserted hallway with half of the school still in lunch.

"Kaitlyn," Kiku says quietly, setting a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe we should just leave him alone?" I can tell Kiku obviously wants to stay and try to comfort Vash.

"What's wrong?" I ask again, moving in front of Vash so he can't walk away.

"I... I..." Vash looks like he's about to snap at me again, tell me it's nothing, but then he sniffles. It sounds so sad, like a kid who dropped his ice cream, and it's strange Vash can make a noise like that. "I just feel bad for my little sister, okay? Do you have a problem with that?"

Vash's brows are furrowed in anger, and he looks like if I disagree, he'll punch me in the face. So I reach over and hug him.

"K-Kaitlyn? Um, what are you doing...?" Ludwig asks.

I sigh and step away from Vash. "Errr, sorry. It's just, Lili. Is she... is it Elizabeta?"

Vash's eyes widen. "Kid, listen. I know you think you're, like, I don't know, trying to help me out. But Elizabeta being so mean to Lili is none of your business"-

"You're right," I interrupt. "It's _not _my business. It's _your _business. You need to help Lili out with Elizabeta, or your little sister will be a goner, too. Just like..." I lean in close to his face to scare him, "... Just like _Katyusha."_ I straighten up. "Hey, Feli! Let's go to class, now. See ya, Ludwig! See ya, Kiku!"

Since nobody's moving, I grab Feliciano and start dragging him to class, while Vash, Ludwig and Kiku stare after me.

-###-  
"You did _what, _aru?" Wang exclaims from the backseat. Arthur, Wang and I are driving to Antonio's party as I recount the events with Vash.

"I still can't believe Vash was crying," Arthur pipes up, tapping the steering wheel with one finger, a habit that always drives Alfred crazy when he's riding with Arthur.

"Did you know what they skipped this year, Wang?" Arthur asks. "Or at least, maybe they're waiting until break starts?"

"The Beautiful Winter Break Survey, aru," Wang sighs, the annoyance obvious in his voice.

"What's that?" I ask. "Is it about Winter Break?"

"Not at all," Arthur says. "They just send it out during Winter Break. I fill it out to be polite, but it's kind of stupid, if you ask me. The juniors that are on Student Council are instructed once a year, around Winter Break, to send a survey to everybody in the school, and ask what their definition of 'Beauty' is."

"Why do they do that?" I ask.

"I don't know," Arthur says. "It's probably to make some kids feel better about themselves or something. But hey, every school has its dumb stuff, and this has been a tradition for, like, seven years."

"They'll probably mail it to us this year," Wang says.

"What if you don't send it back?"

"If you bring it back by the first week back after Winter Break, you get extra credit," Arthur says. "That's the only reason that people do this survey, the only reason it's not a waste of trees."

"But they don't give you extra credit if you put a thought-about-it-for-two-seconds answer, aru," Wang says, glancing pointedly at Arthur.

"That was one time!" Protests Arthur, waving one hand. "You see, last year, I just put 'Beauty is beauty.' I didn't get any extra credit, but it seems like a good answer. It's indefinable."

-###-  
"Oh my God," Francis says, walking up to us. "Ivan was driving, and I swear, he's already had too much to drink. Alfred seems too sad to do anything but mope around on Antonio's couch, so I'll just ask him to drive us home."

"I wish I could do something to cheer him up," I say. "I'm going to go talk to him."

I leave Francis, Wang and Arthur chatting, Arthur talking about what I said to Vash, Francis gasping and sighing dramatically like a teenage girl.

I plop down on the couch next to Alfred. He's holding a red cup in one hand, the other hand is resting on the couch, propping up his chin.

"Hey," I say. "Are you okay? We're at a party. And not to be mean, but, uh, you've been kind of sad this week. Is there anything I can do?"

"I just don't know why Michelle broke up with me," Alfred says. "I know I'm being pathetic. Okay? I know that. What I don't know is what to do."

I stare at Alfred and then smile. "You know, you're always telling me you're the hero. Now _I'm_ telling _you_ you're the hero. You'll figure something out."

I stand up to get something to eat and run into someone familiar.

"Elizabeta."

"Hey, Kaitlyn. Enjoying the party?" She does a kind of jump, some of her drink sloshing out of her cup. She steps over the small puddle on the rug. "Oopsies. Do you think Antonio will notice?"

"Why are you being nice to me?" I blurt out, not bothering to be nice. I've seen the way Elizabeta plays, and it's not fair. Fight back. Don't be a sore loser.

"Look." Elizabeta sighs. "Do you know about the Winter Break Surveys?"

I nod.

"I wouldn't be coming to you unless it was important. You don't know this, but last year, I was on Student Council, so I was responsible for handling the survey. So anyways, I really want you to fill out a survey. Could you? Honestly?"

"I guess so," I say. "Is that all you wanted from me?"

"No. Come here." Elizabeta waves me back towards a hallway. Only a few people are back there, chatting and laughing. I stare back at her, expecting a trap, until she rolls her eyes. "Come on, Kaitlyn. I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

I follow her back and she turns to face me. "Listen, I still hate you," she says. "But it's quite obvious little Matthew Williams is following you around like a puppy."

"Please, I don't like him back."

Elizabeta holds up both of her hands, an invitation for peace. "I know. But I heard him calling you Sarah." Her eyes look pained. "And I do feel bad about that. And you know how today he came looking for you at lunch, but then seemed to give up?"

"Yeah. I thought it was weird, because I was sitting in plain sight."

"I know. You have me to thank. I told him you loved somebody else."

I feel panic rising. "Who?" I demand. "How many people did you tell? Just Matthew?"

Elizabeta hits me on the arm. "Relax," she says. "I just said you liked Arthur, okay? And I only told Matthew. Oh yeah, and Antonio. And Gilbert. And Roderich. If I'm going to be totally honest, I think those nervous Batlics heard. And"-

"Okay, okay, enough! Stop!" I wave my hand, making a cutting motion across my throat. "Why would you say that? I mean, I guess it's better than having Matthew follow me around, but"-

"Well." Elizabeta lowers her voice. "Would you have preferred if I had said you liked somebody else?" She laughs softly. "Somebody like Vash?"


	20. Colors of Autumn

_A/N- Kaitlyn, I'm sorry. I know you're reading. You know I love you as a friend. STOP HASSLING ME. I'm working as fast as I can (lie). Sorry 'bout that. XD I have ALWAYS gotten Alfred and Arthur mixed up, not as characters, but the names, my Fatal Flaw... Also, I just HAD to get this chapter up before I left for vacation (as I'm leaving today) so enjoy!_

My eyes fly open and I shove Elizabeta away from me, slamming her into the wall. She yelps. "Where'd you here that, huh?" I demand. "Always where you don't belong. I've never spoken to Vash before. I'd like it if you'd stop making rumors about me. Where is this shit even coming from? Your imagination?"

"Huh?" Elizabeta looks innocent, her green eyes shining. "What do you mean? I thought you talked to him today," she says in a ridiculously fake confused voice. "About me, right? Me. And Lili. And how it's not your business to interfere."

"What?" I'm so surprised I loosen my grip on her and she darts away from me, jumping to the other end of the hall, where people stand, their backs to us, still chatting about worthless things.

"I know about everything you said to Vash today," she hisses. "Trust me, Kaitlyn. You're trying to make it seem like I'm a bad person. But do you know what's worse than being bad? Being _weak." _She tosses her hair and walks away, sniffling.

-###-  
It was a clear, perfect Friday morning. A rare, sunny day. The sun was not too hot and not too bright, only warm if you stood still in one place, the wind whipping away the rest of the warmth.

Autumn was in full swing, with the air crisp and clean, even the usual rain being held off for a couple of days. The trees were blazing with vibrant colors- bright yellow, dazzling orange, red the shade of fire. The scent of fall was carried on a gentle breeze.

Matthew woke up immediately when his alarm clock went off, shrieking and beeping. His arm lashed out to hit the _Off_ button, knocking over a framed picture instead.

"Oh, Maple," Matthew muttered, rolling out of bed. Matthew straightened the picture- a picture of three people. Alfred, his brother, who lived with their mother, Sarah, his beautiful girlfriend, and Matthew Williams himself. They all went to the same school. Sarah was a sophomore, Alfred a junior, Matthew a freshman.

Matthew had woken up early to make some of his favorite food- pancakes. He let the batter sizzle as he got ready for school, careful to throw _the box _in his bookbag. The box contained a birthday present for Sarah. Today was her birthday, and Matthew had spent hours agonizing over what to get her.

In the end, he got her a keychain from Canada. It may seem lame to others, but he knew it would have special meaning to Sarah, the only other Canadian besides Matthew. It had a shining red maple leaf on one end, _Canada _carved on one side.

When Matthew got to school, he gave Sarah the present. She had an armful of other gifts from friends, but she seemed especially happy about the key chain, giving Matthew a hug in front of everybody. "Thank you, Mattie!"

Matthew kept hearing words of a senior party, such a big event even the freshmen knew. Alfred was going, along with his weird friends, automatically invited because of their high-standing status as juniors.

Sarah and Matthew were hanging out at Matthew's place, eating pancakes with maple syrup, watching TV, and sitting by a fire, until Sarah said she had to give her grandmother soup. "Darn, I said I would bring it over an hour ago," Sarah sighed. "I promised, because my grandmother's just getting over some sort of sickness. It's chicken noodle. That's her favorite kind, too."

"Be careful," Matthew said. "It's really dark out." Matthew couldn't drive yet, but Sarah could, just barely.

"Oh, don't be silly," Sarah laughed. "I'll be fine. It's only, like, five minutes away." She held her hand out, fingers splayed, smiling. "Don't worry. Nothing is gonna happen."

-###-  
"Ey! Kaitlyn! Over here!"

Arthur waving me over. I sigh and go over to where he, Wang, Ivan and Natalia are standing.

"What are we talking about?" I mutter, bored out of my mind and pretty pissed, wishing I could just go home and sleep. Sleep forever. But not die. ...Right?

-###-  
I am home alone. The mail is sitting in a pile on the counter. Sure enough, an envelope from the school. It's the Winter Survey Arthur and Wang were talking about in the car. I open the trash can, about to throw it away, but then set it back. Maybe I'll fill it out later.

I don't need the extra credit, but hey, you never know.

After having a brief discussion with Arthur, Wang, Natalia and Ivan about college, winter break plans, blah blah blah, I excused myself from the party. There was no way I was waiting around for Arthur to drive me back home, I just walked.

And now it's 2:30 in the morning, my mother still isn't home, and I'm watching TV and eating ramen. The neighbors to my right have a yappy dog that won't shut up and the neighbors to my left are always up 'till three in the morning partying, and I can hear the screaming and laughing and pounding of bass.

I don't have many problems in life- well, scratch that- but they're mostly caused by Elizabeta. Really, if you took her out of my life, it would almost be picture-perfect.

My phone beeps and I jump, startled. Who would text me at 2:30 in the morning?

_Natalia Arlovskaya: You're probably not up, but when you get this, can you come over? Even if it's like five in t/ morning?_

_Me: On my way._


	21. Shoebox Letters

I don't have to ring the doorbell, because as I walk up to Natalia's house, she opens the door. It probably wasn't that smart of me to walk over alone in the middle of the night, but I'm past worrying at the moment.

"Kaitlyn, come here," Natalia whispers. "Ivan is sleeping, so be quiet."

"Are your parents home?"

She grimaces. "Ivan and I haven't seen them in a while. But, oh well. I'll be right back. Stay here. Do you want something to drink? Yeah, you're going to want something to drink." She starts muttering in Belarusian and I frown.

"Are you okay, Natalia?"

"Um, yeah. I'll get you a glass of water. I'll be right back. Sit down." She motions towards the couch, and I take a seat. The house is very dark and cold. The heat may be on, but I don't feel it.

She returns with some water and an envelope with my name printed on it in clear, neat handwriting. "Here. For you."

"Oh. Thanks." I turn the envelope over. "Who's it from?"

Natalia turns away from me, staring out the window. The sky is clear, the stars shining, and for once, I wish it was raining. The house is too quiet. "Just open it."

_Kaitlyn  
I never knew you that well  
You seemed like a nice person  
I am sorry I did not get to know you better  
Watch out for Natalia, please  
I'm sorry_

_-Katyusha_

I stare at the letter. "Did... did you get one of these, too?"

Natalia nods. "She left a lot of them. Ivan and I... were going through her stuff... and we found a shoebox in her closet filled with letters to different people."

Suddenly Natalia grabs my wrist. "Can you stay here for the night? Please? Is your mom home?"

"No. I'll stay."

Natalia and I don't sleep at all. We sit on the couch pretending to watch TV. She stares blankly at the screen, but I know she's not focusing. She gets out food, but I don't have the appetite to eat at all.

At seven AM, Ivan comes down the stairs, looking surprised to see me there and Natalia up.

"Why are you up so early, Natalia?"

"I'm not up. I never went down."

"Ahh." Ivan looks around at the TV, the food everywhere, the opened envelope. "Did you bring Kaitlyn over to give her...?"

"Yes."

Ivan gives a nervous smile. "Well, then, hi Kaitlyn."

"Hey," I say.

Natalia stands up slowly. "I guess we better get a move on with our lives, right?"

I stand up too. "Hey, could you come with me?"

"Where are you going?" Natalia asks.

"To the Zwingli's house."

Ivan laughs uncertainly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? They take bearing arms to the extreme, da?"

"I wouldn't know, I haven't been," I say. "But I really need to see Lili right now."

"Lili?" Natalia's eyes widen. "Why?"

"Elizabeta..." I suddenly flash back to the beginning of the school year. The first party. Natalia and Elizabeta were getting ready while Katyusha and I stood around waiting. Natalia didn't like Lili. I don't know if that's changed or not.

Natalia looks uneasy. "Did... did she say something to you?"

I suddenly feel very tired. "Not exactly. Vash said something, but I don't think he wanted me to know. Even though I don't know her that well, I'm worried. What if it turns out like...?"

"Like Katyusha?" Natalia guesses. "Fine, I see your point. I'll go."

-###-  
Natalia drives us to the Zwingli's house. I'm worried that their parents might be home, but Natalia assures me that both of their parents have full-time jobs, even on Saturdays, and that's one of the reasons why the Zwingli's are so rich. Basically everyone at this school is, though.

When I see their house, my jaw drops open. It's huge. Really huge. A sign in the front reads _Private Property._

Natalia rings the doorbell, and a sleepy-looking Vash answers, rubbing his eyes. He tries to close the door when he sees us.

"Open this damn door right now!" Natalia screams, kicking it open. I stare at her.

Just like Ivan warned, Vash grabs a gun from who-knows-where. "You're breaking an entry!" He yells. "Go away! I have no reason to speak to you!"

"Nor do we!" I growl. "We're here to see Lili!"

"Big brother," I hear a small voice say. Vash freezes.

"Big brother, please put that down. Let them in." Lili is standing there, staring at her feet. Vash sighs and walks further back into the house. "Five minutes," he hisses. "Okay?"

"It's not like we really want to be here," Natalia says, and I jab her in the side with my elbow.

"Why are you here?" Lili asks, but in a much friendlier tone. "Sit down. I'll make you two some breakfast. How about fried eggs? Aww, you guys look awful. How much sleep did you get?"

Natalia makes a growling noise. "How do you people say it? Null. No sleep for us."

"Why not?" Lili asks, cracking three eggs into a frying pan. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine," I say as cheerfully as I can manage. "We just want to talk to you."

"But..." Lili walks around the kitchen, dropping ingredients into the pan. The whole kitchen smells delicious, and I remember a rumor I heard once about how Lili has to cook everything for Vash. "Natalia, you don't like me."

"Hmm." Natalia frowns, looking even grumpier than usual. "I didn't really before. But you're really nice, you know? I'm so sorry I was so mean to you. I honestly mean it."

Lili's smile has grown wider, and her eyes are shining. I've never really gotten a good look at Lili Zwingli, but now that she's smiling, I have to admit, she's pretty. I wish my eyes were half as beautiful as hers.

We end up staying for breakfast, only leaving right after because Vash looks like he's about to shoot Natalia or me unless we get the hell out of there.

"That was nice," I say. "She really is so nice."

"She looked really"- Natalia pulls over to the side of the road. I hear her phone buzzing. "Hold up. Hello? Yes, this is Natalia. What? Why would you- yeah, yeah. Okay! I said she was, so calm down! You want to? Oh. Okay. Here."

She holds her cell phone out to me.

_Who is it? _I mouth.

"It's Raivis Galante," she says. "He couldn't get your number, and he says he needs to talk to you."


	22. Discoveries

_A/N- Oh my gosh, guys. I see I haven't posted on this story in forever- I'm sorry! Well, let the madness continue!_

"So, I have this theory." Raivis' voice comes from the other end.

"Which is?" I ask.

"It's about Katyusha."

I give a sharp intake of breath. Natalia doesn't notice, the radio's playing softly, and she's humming along. "What is it?" I ask, slowly.

"Why would she kill herself?"

"Elizabeta," I say. "That's why. Haven't you heard that"-

"Oh, no. Kaitlyn, think about it," Raivis says.

"I _have _thought about it," I say. "And that's why- it's not like there were any other problems, right? Besides, I thought everyone was over this. Yes, of course..." I feel my throat tightening. The letter Katyusha wrote me is still sitting in my bag, a little piece of white poking up from inside, half-buried under a pack of gum and my phone.

"Exactly. She was happy." Raivis pauses. "So I think she was killed."

"E-excuse me?" I exclaim. Natalia looks over at me, startled, but I don't care. "Raivis, why the hell would you think that? It's so unrealistic! Lay off the crime shows for a little while, alright?"

"Um..." Raivis mumbles.

I realize what I've said, how rude it was. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised. But... that's not possible."

"Why not?"

"Well, first off. There's the matter of... of the body," I stammer. "And the suicide. I mean, Raivis, they _know. _Nobody's going to take lightly to the suggestion of a murder"-

"But Kaitlyn," Raivis says. His voice isn't angry, it's only filled with soft insistence. "Kaitlyn, who found the body? Ivan? Natalia?"

I pause for a moment. The body was never mentioned, was it? No. "I don't know. I'll ask Natalia." I cup my hand over the phone. "Natalia, I'm sorry if this is a little blunt, but did you find Katyusha's body?"

She shakes her head, eyes on the road. "No. Ivan did. I saw it, too."

"And you know it was a suicide?"

"Well... she was..."

"Natalia, where was Katyusha when you found her?"

Natalia's lip trembles. "God damn it, Kaitlyn. She was in the bathtub, face down. With her clothes on. Dead."

I pat her shoulder and return to the phone.

"Yes, she was in the bathtub. So... someone could have drowned her," Raivis says.

"Did you overhear the conversation?"

"No, Ivan told me."

"Ivan what?" I exclaim. "Why would Ivan tell you that?"

"Ivan tells me a lot of things. That little scar he has over his eyebrow? His dad hit him."

I cough. The breakfast Lili made me suddenly isn't settling so well anymore. "What? When?"

"You don't know about his dad?"

"No, I"- I break off. I don't know anything anymore, apparently.

"Kaitlyn, their dad is an alcoholic. He was drunk once, and he just gave Ivan all he had. Why do you think Elizabeta calls Natalia and Ivan drunkies?"

I feel sick to my stomach. "O-oh. I really didn't know that... I'm hanging up now." I can't stand to talk to Raivis anymore.

"No, wa"-

I hit end and turn to Natalia, handing her the phone back. "I'm finished. And I'm sorry."

"What did Raivis say?"

"That he thought Katyusha's death was murder, not suicide."

Natalia's grip tightens on the steering wheel, and she gives one short, sharp laugh, the sound echoing through the car, the radio not drowning it out. "Well then," she snarls.

"Let dreamers dream what worlds they please, yes?"

-###-  
"Ugh..." I lower myself onto the park bench. Snow is coming down at a slow swirl, light flakes catching on the ground and melting. I wasn't in the mood to go home, so Natalia dropped me at the park.

"Comes in handy being invisible, eh?"

"M-Matthew." The familiar voice, the slight Canadian accent- I stiffen as he sits beside me, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Hey, Kaitlyn."

I tilt my head, confused. "Kaitlyn? Not Sarah?"

"Did you think I had some sort of mental condition, or something?" Matthew laughs lightly. His voice is nice, soft and kind of musical.

"N-no. Well, maybe..." I lower my head.

"It's fine. Yes, Sarah was my old girlfriend, but never did I think you were her for a moment."

"Then why?" I ask, not bothering to form the complete sentence. He knows what I'm talking about.

"Well, Elizabeta paid me to get you to think I was crazy."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure of any of Elizabeta's motives," he says, smiling a little. "But I'm done with her. I just wanted to let you know, I know who you are, who Sarah was, and lots more."

"So."

"Are we okay, then?"

"Yeah."

"Also, Kaitlyn, I'm not in love with you."

Silence. I watch the snow flutter down.

"Matthew," I ask quietly. "Are we friends?"

He laughs again. "Yes."

"Hmm. Good."

Maybe it's kind of weird sitting next to someone you thought was crazy, finding out it was all just an act for unknown reasons, but one thing is for sure- Elizabeta doesn't do anything without a reason.

Still, it's nice to know I have another person to count on.

I couldn't think of how to begin to say any of this, so I just lean my head back against the bench, staring up at the gray, cloudy sky, blinking when a snowflake hits my face. I want to say something to Matthew, but even then, I'm not sure what I want _to _say, or how I want to. So I just let out a contented sigh and hope it says what I can't.


	23. Let Go of the Past

_A/N- PLEASE READ ME. Okay, so in order for this chapter to make sense, you need to understand this: These are all backstories, taking place years before the current-day running story in the previous chapters. It's divided into five parts, one for each of the Allies. Got it? Good. Enjoy!_

I.

"Damn you! If you could just _try_..."

"I _am _trying!"

"Really? Really then, that's funny, because"-

"Mom! Dad!" Alfred poked his head into the kitchen, rolling his eyes. "God, your arguing is getting even louder by the day, I swear. If you're going to be such a disturbance to Matthew and me, can you just move this outside?"

"Alfred." Alfred's mother sounded exhausted. Worn-out. She glanced outside, watching the rain battering the driveway. "Alfred, we're sorry."

Alfred grunted and waltzed back to the living room where Matthew was sprawled out on the couch. "Can you believe I had to actually get up to tell them that?" Alfred said, making sure he was extra-loud. "What did I miss, Mattie?"

In the beginning, Alfred couldn't stand the arguing. He'd go out, get a fro-yo or go to the movies, but it got to the point where his parents were arguing all the time. He was starting to run out of money, and his legs ached from all the walking. _That _was how much time he spent out of the house.

It's not like eighth-graders can drive.

Then, he tried to stop the arguing. It didn't work. Now he made sure to be as bratty as possible, as loud and obnoxious. He drank. Not a lot, just enough to see if he could get a rise out of his parents. He left beer cans everywhere. No reaction.

He decided to become the model child- straight As, he made team sports, he did extracurriculars. Yet nothing was working.

"Matthew, we should do something," Alfred muttered, popping the top off of his soda.

Matthew shook his head. "You don't have to. I've been studying divorce papers already..."

II.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Arthur set down his book, staring at the American.

"I said," Alfred repeated, slowly and clearly, "we should hang out some time."

"You want to hang out with me?" Arthur asked, almost amused. "Huh, Alfred. I knew you were a jokester, but not"-

"I'm serious, Arthur. We should. Really. Hang out sometime, I mean. How about the mall or something?"

"Ah-hah, yeah..." Arthur ran his hand through his hair nervously. Everyone knew people like Alfred didn't ask to 'hang out' with people like Arthur just because. Something was always in it for them.

Or maybe, what if just once, there wasn't?

III.

Francis shook his head in disbelief. "Non. Not again."

"Come on, Francis. Don't be a baby."

"I don't"-

"Oh, you worthless piece of crap! Just _get in the car, now!" _Francis felt something kick him in the side, and he hopped into the car, scared for his life.

Just an eighth grader, he was switching around homes. He never stayed long in one place- the people never liked to keep him. And now here his 'parents' were saying he'd been found a new home. Second one this year.

He absolutely detested the family he was with at the moment- they always beat him, and whenever he'd try to do something to get out of the house- a phone call or a letter- they always found out _somehow _and he'd just get it.

"This new family," his 'father' said from the front seat, "will be your family... forever."

"Oh." Francis didn't have his hopes up. He always got stuck with the bad families- the poor ones, the struggling ones, the abusive ones, the people stuck in the middle of a divorce or an affair or some weird issue.

"Keep in touch," his 'mother' said, giving Francis a fake smile. "We're here."

"Oui. Of course," Francis promised. _Like hell that's happening. I'm never coming near you again. Unless it's a life-or-death situation. I'd still pick death, actually._

But the family who stepped out of the house wasn't snarling at him.

He turned around to say goodbye to his old family, but they had sped away, leaving him with no choice to go inside.

"Oh, you poor thing!"

"Francis! Welcome!"

"You'll be attending the private school nearby, alright?"

"What type of hobbies do you have?"

Francis smiled- a real smile- and tried to absorb their questions. Two words danced around in his head.

_Loving family._

IV.

"Daddy's been drinking again," Natalia said, her voice barely a whisper, staring up at Ivan nervously.

"Crap," Ivan replied softly. "That's not good."

Their father was an alcoholic, and he only took his anger out on his children- Ivan and Natalia. Katyusha wasn't blood related, a child from his mother's prior marriage. She was lucky.

Well, his father had never hit them or anything, which Ivan was thankful for, but the insults were enough to make Natalia cry, enough to make Ivan a bitter introvert, rude and scary.

The only escape he had was school- he and Natalia were saving up enough for plane tickets to _somewhere _far away, somewhere their father couldn't reach them - but at school he didn't have friends, just Favorites. His favorites to torment, to make fun of.

"There's something"-

"GYAH!"

Ivan felt his blood run cold at the yell. It was no doubt his father.

"Are you kids spying on me!" He screamed, the vodka bottle still clutched in his hand. "That is eavesdropping!" He flung the bottle.

"No!"

Ivan heard Natalia scream, but he couldn't see. He could hear glass shattering around him- no, he could _feel _it, millions of little shining pieces clattering to the kitchen floor. He could _feel _the vodka soaking into his clothes, he could _feel _blood trickling out of cut above his eye.

"Annoying little brats."

V.

_Just one more can't seriously hurt._

No, Wang, stop it.

Just one more.

Wang held the glass to his lips, the ice cubes clinking gently on the sides of the cup of water. He swallowed another pill then set the glass down, sighing.

What really mattered?

The 'Allies' or whatever they called their silly group hated him, he didn't really have any friends, what was to stop him from taking one... more... pill?

Alfred was finding new friends, that was clear. Arthur Kirkland, Francis Bonnefoy, Ivan Braginski. They were replacing Kiku Honda and Ludwig Beilschmidt, that was for sure. Gone were their days of being best friends. Ha, never again.

So what was the point?

Wang had his mind made up.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. The pills were starting to take effect- he had to hurry or it wouldn't be a deadly dose.

Wang reached for the pill bottle, raising the glass in the other hand.

The phone rang. He jumped, spilling the water, and answered.

"Hello?"

"Wang?"

"Yeah, hey! Dude, it's Alfred Jones."

And then Wang fell asleep before he could take the last pill.


End file.
